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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25201633">Revival, New Friends, Old Enemies</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toku_fangirl_2015/pseuds/Toku_fangirl_2015'>Toku_fangirl_2015</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Continuing Adventures of Angry Bird Man [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kamen Rider Kuuga, Kamen Rider OOO, Tokusatsu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossovers &amp; Fandom Fusions, Friends to Lovers, Gen, M/M, Slow Burn, Team as Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:01:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,721</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25201633</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toku_fangirl_2015/pseuds/Toku_fangirl_2015</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Strange events have prompted Eiji to finally revive Ankh. They must team up with Kamen Rider Kuuga to face this new threat with an unexpected connection to Ankh's past. Meanwhile, Ankh contemplates the nature of his relationship with Eiji.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ankh/Hino Eiji, Godai Yuusuke/Ichijou Kaoru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Continuing Adventures of Angry Bird Man [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1825666</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is at least the third headcanon I've come up with for "Somehow, Ankh Has Returned" and the first one I've shared anywhere. <br/>This is a sequel to "Voices, Possession, Unlikely Friends." If you haven't read that, all you need to know is that Ankh and Shingo became friends while Ankh was living inside his head. I've continued having Shingo serve as Ankh's older brother/mentor/conscience here.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I heard the voices first. There were two of them, both women, both unfamiliar.</p><p>“…thought I saw something for a second…”</p><p>“…now push that button, Rinna-san…”</p><p>“Look! There!”</p><p>“Eiji-san! I think it’s working!”</p><p><em>Eiji…Hino Eiji…I remember now.</em> Memories of my time on Earth, fighting alongside Eiji, came flooding back.</p><p>“We did it, Akari-san!” I heard the slapping sound of a high-five.</p><p>A third voice, one I’d know anywhere, called my name. “Ankh?”</p><p>I opened my eyes for a fraction of a second. “Too bright,” I muttered.</p><p>“Try now,” one of the women called a moment later.</p><p>I forced my eyes open. In the dim lighting, I took in my surroundings. I was inside, standing in the middle of some sort of symbol drawn on the floor. Across the room, I saw the two women whose voices I’d heard. Both wore long white lab coats. One had long hair pulled back in a ponytail, and the other had short hair and glasses.</p><p>And there, striding towards me, was Eiji. He looked older than I remembered, but still had the same look of quiet determination in his eyes. “Ankh,” Eiji said. “Welcome back.”</p><p>“How are you feeling?” the short-haired woman asked.</p><p>“Hungry,” I admitted.</p><p>Eiji chuckled. “I thought you might say that,” he said. “Rinna-san, do you mind?”</p><p>“Of course,” the other woman said. She reached under a desk and pulled out a box of ice candy. “Eiji-san said these are your favorite,” she added, walking over to me.</p><p>I grabbed three from the box. “What…happened?” I asked. “How am I here? Where <em>am</em> I, anyway? How long was I…dead?”</p><p>Eiji sighed. “I’ve spent the past eight years trying to bring you back,” he said as I bit into the first ice candy. “I went all over the world, and it turned out the answer was right here in Japan the whole time. I just had to find the right people.”</p><p>Rinna nodded. “Akari-san has experience with souls who were separated from their bodies,” she said. “And I’ve worked with artificial life forms created by humans. Together, we were able to combine our knowledge and find a way to bind your Core Medal to a human body.”</p><p>“Human…” I repeated. Yes, this body felt…different from my Greeed form. I couldn’t even summon my Greeed arm, let alone my wings.</p><p>“It was the only way to make it work,” Eiji said apologetically.</p><p>I shrugged. “It’s better than nothing.”</p><p>“Better than nothing!” Akari said indignantly. “It’s taken us seven months working day and night and the best you can say is ‘better than nothing’?”</p><p>Eiji chuckled. “Coming from Ankh, that’s high praise.”</p><p>Rinna grinned at the other woman. “Akari-san, would you be able to help me revive someone else?”</p><p>I glared at her. “If you think bringing back the other Greeed is a good idea…” I unwrapped my second ice candy.</p><p>She shook her head. “No, no, that’s not what I meant!” she assured us. “I had a friend once. Like you, but different. He died, too. We’ve been trying to find a way to revive him ever since.”</p><p>“And you think this same process will work?” Akari asked, coming over to us.</p><p>Rinna nodded. “We’ll probably need to make some changes…the Roidmudes and the Greeed were different life forms, after all…but the basic principle should be the same.”</p><p>The door opened and a young man entered. Reddish-blond hair, bright floral shirt, and an enthusiastic smile. “Did it work?” he asked excitedly.</p><p>“Yes!” Eiji said. He bowed in the young man’s direction. “Takeru-san, thank you for letting us work here.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” Takeru assured us. “I’m glad Akari-san was able to help. I knew you could do it,” he added.</p><p>“Slow down!” Rinna said to me as I took a big bite of the third and final ice candy. “You’ll get a headache if you eat that too fast.”</p><p>Akari laughed. “My friend Alain is the same way with takoyaki,” she said. “He’d eat it all day if we let him.”</p><p>“It <em>was</em> the first food he ever tried,” Takeru pointed out.</p><p>I smirked. “Same with these for me.” I held up the now-empty sticks.</p><p>“Ankh, I’d like to run some tests, if that’s all right,” Rinna said to me.</p><p>I glared at her. “It’s not.”</p><p>“It won’t be anything painful,” she assured me. “Just things like taking your pulse and blood pressure. I want to see how you’re adjusting to this body.”</p><p>“I think it’s a good idea,” Eiji encouraged. “It won’t take long.”</p><p>Rinna and Akari poked and prodded and hooked me up to some sort of beeping monitor. “Deep breath in,” Rinna said, pressing a stethoscope to my chest.</p><p>“That’s cold!” I protested.</p><p>“Hina’s working for a big-name fashion designer now,” Eiji said proudly as Rinna checked my blood pressure. “She’s got her own line of clothing debuting next year.”</p><p>“Open wide,” Rinna said, checking my throat. “Your tongue is purple,” she reported, “but I’m assuming that’s from the ice candy.” She turned off her little light and nodded, satisfied. “All done,” she said.</p><p><em>Finally!</em> “Let’s go,” I said to Eiji, heading towards the door where I’d seen Takeru come in.</p><p>“It’s late,” Takeru said. “Please, stay here tonight.”</p><p>I gritted my teeth in frustration. “We can go home tomorrow,” Eiji promised.</p><p><em>Home.</em> There was only one place I’d ever thought of as home. I smirked. “Chiyoko’s still running that ridiculous restaurant, then.”</p><p>Eiji nodded. “Still having trouble finding people to work there, too.”</p><p>We walked upstairs, where something hanging on the wall caught my eye. At first glance, it was a simple painting of the sky, clear but for a few clouds in the distance. But there was something about it that reminded me of the first time I'd looked at the world through human eyes. It made me feel...hopeful. I couldn't look away.</p><p>“Alain painted that,” Takeru said quietly behind me. “I’ll tell him you like it.” It was all I could do to nod.</p><p>Takeru set up bedrolls for us in the temple’s attic. “Sorry,” he said apologetically. “I know it’s not much.”</p><p>“This is fine,” Eiji reassured him. “Just like old times, eh, Ankh?”</p><p>I looked out at the night sky through the window. “Yeah.”</p><p>Eiji laid down on his bedroll. I sat on the window ledge, looking down at the world below. I could hear Eiji tossing and turning behind me. “You’re not tired either, huh?” I asked him.</p><p>“Not really,” he said.</p><p>I turned to face him, my back pressed against the cool glass. “So, you managed not to get yourself killed,” I remarked.</p><p>He chuckled. “I had a few close calls,”  he admitted. “There was this one time in India…” He began telling stories of his adventures.</p><p>“How’s Shingo?” I asked hesitantly.</p><p>Eiji looked at me, surprised. “The detective? He’s fine,” he said. “He and Hina have sort of adopted me as their honorary brother.” His shoulders slumped. “My father contacted me last year,” he said quietly. “To tell  me I’d been officially disowned.”</p><p>“Tch!” I scoffed. “Good riddance.” From what Eiji had told me, there was no love lost between him and his father.</p><p>Eiji looked down. “Yeah, I guess,” he mumbled. “But still, I can’t help but wonder…if I’d done things differently…”</p><p>I jumped down from the window and sat next to Eiji on his bedroll. “You’re better off without them.”</p><p>He glanced at me. “People have said the same thing about you,” he pointed out. I smirked at that. “They’re my <em>family</em>,” Eiji continued<em>.</em> “Despite everything, I feel like I let them down.”</p><p>“You haven’t changed a bit,” I told him. “Still thinking you’re responsible for everyone else’s problems.”</p><p>“Eh?” he asked. “What do you mean?”</p><p>“Your family wanted you to be someone you’re not,” I told him. “You may be an annoying, reckless idiot, but…I saw you turning into someone else.” I paused. “That version of you was even worse.”</p><p>Eiji rested his head on my shoulder. “Thank you,” he said quietly. Slowly, hesitantly, I put an arm around his shoulder. “Ankh…It’s good to have you back,” Eiji said.</p><p>“Tch! Of course it is.” I grinned at him.</p><p>**</p><p>Eiji and I walked towards Cous Coussier the following afternoon. “I told everyone I was coming back,” he said to me. “But I didn't tell them why. They’ll be so surprised!”</p><p>“I just hope nobody makes a fuss,” I grumbled.</p><p>As we approached the front door, I slipped away from Eiji and around towards the back. I made the familiar climb up to the second-floor window, only to discover it was closed. I pushed it open and climbed inside.</p><p>The attic had gotten far more crowded in the years since Eiji and I had stayed there. I could barely make my way from the window to the door. There was a stack of something in my way. I pushed it and it fell with a crash.</p><p>“Ehhh?” I heard Chiyoko's voice thundering up from downstairs. “What was that?”</p><p>“Erm...oh, Chiyoko-san--!” Eiji began. I heard two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs. “You remember I said I had a surprise...?”</p><p>Chiyoko threw the door open, brandishing a rolling pin. Her face changed from anger to surprise as she saw me. “Ankh-chan!” she shouted.</p><p>“I'm sorry about the mess!” Eiji said, bending forward. “We'll clean it up, right, Ankh?”</p><p>“Don't worry about it,” Chiyoko insisted. “Ankh-chan, you're back! Come downstairs. I'm almost done setting up for the party tonight. Everyone will be here soon.” She grinned. “Good thing I got a fresh delivery of ice candy this morning.”</p><p>Date and Gotou arrived next. “Anko! Long time no see!” Date greeted me. “Eiji, <em>good job</em> on bringing him back!”</p><p>“How did you do it?” Gotou added.</p><p>“It's a long story,” Eiji said. “I'll tell it once everyone's here.”</p><p>Hina pulled the door open a few minutes later. “Hello, everyone!” she called. “Onii-chan says he'll be here soon. He's coming from work.”</p><p>“Oh...Shingo-san is...?” Eiji asked. His voice was filled with concern.</p><p>Hina nodded, looking confused. “I told him you were back in town, Eiji-kun. Is that all right?”</p><p>“Tch. That's what you get for wanting to surprise everyone,” I said.</p><p>“Ankh!” Hina shrieked. She ran over and grabbed me into a bone-crunching hug.</p><p>“Ah! Get off of me!” I protested, trying to break free. If she hugged any tighter, I wouldn't be able to breathe.</p><p>“Oh! Sorry,” she said, letting go. She took a step back and looked at me closely. “Ankh, it's really you?”</p><p>“Of course,” I said. “Who else would it be?”</p><p>Hina's eyes filled with tears and she let out a watery chuckle. “I'm sorry,” she said, wiping her face. “It's just...good to see you, Ankh. I was starting to worry I'd never see you again.”</p><p>“Eiji said it's been eight years,” I said. “Took him long enough.”</p><p>“He's been all around the world, trying to find a way to restore your body,” Gotou chided. “You might show some gratitude.”</p><p>“Hmph,” I sneered. “It's not like I asked him to.”</p><p>The door opened once again. “Sorry I'm late!” called Shingo. “Welcome back, Eiji. It's good to--” He stopped when he saw me, his mouth dropping open in shock.</p><p>I smirked at him. “Hey, Shingo-kun. Did you miss me?”</p><p>“Shingo...kun?” Eiji repeated, astonished.</p><p>Shingo grinned. “Hey, asshole. What the hell are you doing here?”</p><p>“Onii-chan!” Hina protested, shocked by his coarse language.</p><p>“Oh, you know,” I answered. “This idiot thought it would be a good idea to bring me back.”</p><p>“Can't imagine why,” Shingo said, still grinning. Eiji and Hina stared at us in disbelief.</p><p>I walked past Shingo and reached into his back pocket. “I see you still keep your phone in the same place,” I remarked, turning it over in my hands. “iPhone X? Looks like I've missed a few versions.”</p><p>“I'm the only one who can use it,” he said. “It's new technology. You unlock it using... facial... recognition...” His voice trailed off as he realized what he'd said.</p><p>“Heh!” I pressed the button to unlock the phone. A second later, I was staring at the unlocked home screen. “Thanks for the new phone.”</p><p>“No way! Give it back,” he protested. “I'll buy you one for Christmas.”</p><p>“No, I think I'll keep this one,” I said. “Eiji can buy you another.”</p><p>“Hey!” Eiji said. “Ankh, give his phone back now.”</p><p>I shot Eiji a glare. “And if I don't?”</p><p>It was Shingo who answered. “Did I ever tell you that I could hear Ankh's thoughts while he was in control of my body?” he asked far too innocently. “I can share all kinds of stories while he's playing with my phone.”</p><p>“Fine!” I chucked the phone back in Shingo's face. He caught it almost as smoothly as Eiji would have. “Have your stupid phone back. I want one in black anyway.”</p><p>The door burst open to reveal Kougami and Satonaka, who was holding a large box with a smaller one stacked on top. “What are <em>they</em> doing here?” I snapped at Eiji.</p><p>“Ankh! Welcome back!” Kougami bellowed. “I have been funding Hino Eiji's efforts to revive you, with the understanding that once he succeeds you will both work for me.”</p><p>I sent Eiji a death glare. “Idiot!” I spat. “What made you agree to <em>that?</em>”</p><p>“It was necessary, Ankh,” he said evenly. “Strange things are happening here once again.”</p><p>“Exactly!” Kougami shouted. “Something is going on in this city, and I don't know what's causing it! I don't like that.”</p><p>“What, exactly, is happening?” I asked. “Is it the other Greeed again?”</p><p>“We’re…not sure,” Shingo explained. “We’ve had a spike in missing-persons reports lately. People disappearing under strange circumstances, like from empty rooms with no way in or out.”</p><p>Hina nodded. “My friend Shouko went missing two days ago, right in the middle of a fashion show.”</p><p>“And…there’s this,” Eiji added. He showed me a news article on his phone. There was a picture of a creature that, at first glance, reminded me of an unevolved Yummy. Where the old Yummys were dark gray, however, this one was a brownish-orange. It was still wrapped in dirty bandages and had no discernible facial features.</p><p>“I suspect there’s a connection between the missing people and these new Yummys,” Shingo said. “But we haven’t found anything conclusive yet.”</p><p>“That's why!” Kougami said. “I've come to give you this. Satonaka-kun, if you would.” She nodded and removed the lid from the smaller box. Inside was the OOO Driver and a set of fifteen Core Medals.</p><p>“How?” I demanded. “Weren't all of the Medals destroyed in our final battle with Doctor Maki?”</p><p>“Correct!” Kougami's voice bounced off the walls. “This Driver is a replica. The Core Medals, too. The power of these Medals is slightly different. They cannot be used to revive the Greeed, but only for OOO's transformation.”</p><p>I looked at the Medals more closely. There were three each in red, yellow, green, gray, and blue. The edges of each Medal were black rather than gold, but aside from that, they appeared to be identical to the ones we'd lost. I picked up a red Medal and rolled it between my fingers. As Kougami had said, I couldn't detect any Greeed power coming from it. “Tch! What's the point, then?” I asked.</p><p>Eiji placed a hand on my shoulder. “I'd like you to help me once again,” he said. “You don't have to answer right away.”</p><p>“Now, you must see what's inside the other box!” Kougami said. “Happy birthday...part two!” Satonaka removed the lid to reveal a large cake with “Happy Birthday Ankh” written on top. Surrounding the cake was an assortment of Candroids.</p><p>“I've had enough of this,” I snapped. “Everyone just leave me alone.” I stalked towards the stairs.</p><p>“It's ice cream cake,” Satonaka called after me.</p><p>That was enough to make me turn around. “Ice cream...cake?”</p><p>She nodded and cut a slice. “See?” The bottom layer was chocolate cake, covered with a second layer that was all ice cream.</p><p>“Tch.” They certainly knew my weak point. I snatched the plate of cake from her hand. “Don't think this means I've agreed to anything,” I cautioned everyone as I took a big bite. The cake was delicious.</p><p>Satonaka's watch beeped a few minutes later. She glanced at it and declared, “It's time for me to go home. See you tomorrow, Boss.” She put her half-finished slice of cake down on the counter and left without further comment.</p><p>“Wait!” Chiyoko called after her. “Don't you at least want to take the cake home?”</p><p>“I'll finish it,” I told her.</p><p>“Oh! Eiji-kun, do you and Ankh have a place to stay tonight?” she asked. Eiji shook his head. “Then you must stay here! Hina, will you help me get the attic cleared out?”</p><p>“Of course,” she agreed.</p><p>“I'll help too,” Gotou offered. He, Date, and Shingo followed the ladies upstairs.</p><p>“We should help too,” Eiji prodded. I snorted at him. “Well, I'm tired,” he said. “The sooner our room up there is ready, the sooner we can get some rest.”</p><p>“Tch. Fine.” I began to walk up the stairs behind him.</p><p>“Ankh, about this new threat...” Eiji began.</p><p>“Let me think about it until tomorrow,” I said.</p><p>Eiji nodded. “That's fair.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 2 preview:<br/>“Thanks for your help,” Eiji said to the other Rider. “I’m Kamen Rider OOO. Who are you?”<br/>The other Rider gave Eiji a thumbs-up. “I’m Kuuga,” he said. Then he ran off again, leaving as quickly as he’d come.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When I woke the next morning, Eiji was already gone. The door opened and Shingo walked in. “Move over,” he said by way of greeting.</p><p>I smirked at him, but sat up on the shelf I’d claimed as my bed. He clambered up and sat next to me. “I've missed you,” he admitted.</p><p>I huffed a laugh. “Can’t imagine why.”</p><p>“I’ve started hang-gliding,” he told me. “Hina worries about me, but…it’s the closest thing I’ve found to flying.”</p><p>I nodded. “Next time, I’ll come with you.” I paused. “So…you and Eiji are friends now, huh?”</p><p>Shingo nodded. “Eiji-kun’s a good friend,” he said. “But at first, it was…awkward.”</p><p>“Really?” I asked, shocked. “After everything he did to save you…”</p><p>“That’s why,” Shingo said quietly. “For months, Eiji-kun looked at me the way Hina used to look at you.”</p><p>I remembered her look of disappointment and confusion all too well, as though she was expecting Shingo to suddenly appear instead. “Eiji…” I said. “He really did care about me.”</p><p>Shingo nudged me with his elbow. “What did I always used to tell you?” He looked at me frankly. “How are you doing, with...all this?”</p><p>I shrugged. “You weren't really going to tell everyone what I was thinking back then, were you?”</p><p>He shook his head. “Nothing important,” he promised.</p><p>I took a deep breath. “I'm...conflicted,” I admitted to him finally. “Before, the Medals were all I wanted. Now we have them all, but there's no point. Nobody else wants them, and they don't even mean anything to me.”</p><p>Shingo nodded slowly. “But at the end, you wanted something besides the Medals,” he reminded me.</p><p>“Exactly! I wanted to live my own life!” I shouted. “Now I'm being pulled into a fight I have no stake in.”</p><p>“Don't you?” he prodded.</p><p>Eiji came in then, a Taka Candroid hovering in his hand. “I sent this out to look for monsters nearby,” he said. “Looks like it found something. Are you coming?” He noticed Shingo sitting next to me and did a double-take. “Oh! Good morning, Shingo-san!” Shingo waved at him.</p><p>I jumped down from the shelf, landing smoothly on the floor. “You're buying me a new phone when this is all over,” I told Eiji.</p><p>“Does that mean you'll help?” he asked.</p><p>“Tch. I can't let you have all the fun, can I? Let's go.”</p><p>We followed the Candroid into town. At first, everything seemed normal. “Where did it go?” Eiji wondered. Then he spotted a girl crying nearby. She looked to be around seven or eight years old. “What’s wrong?” Eiji asked, kneeling down to her level.</p><p>“Mama…” the girl sobbed. “A monster took my mama!”</p><p>“Damn! We missed it!” I said.</p><p>“What did it look like?” Eiji asked gently.</p><p>The girl took a shaky breath. “I only saw it for a second,” she said, “but it looked like a bat. Then it grabbed Mama and they just…disappeared.”</p><p>I gritted my teeth. We had more than just the orange Yummys to deal with now. “So it can teleport?” I said. “It might come back for more people.”</p><p>“Emi!” a man called, running toward us.</p><p>“Daddy!” the girl called. “Mama got taken by the bat monster.”</p><p>The man picked Emi up and held her close. “There’s no such thing as monsters,” he said. “Emi, you shouldn’t make up stories.” He turned to Eiji and me. “Thank you for finding her.”</p><p>The sound of screaming had all of us turning our heads. “It’s back,” Eiji remarked. The monster was a human-bat hybrid. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was one of my impostor’s Yummys, or maybe one of Maki’s. There had never been a bat Greeed…I immediately began wondering what Medals it would be weak against.</p><p>“M-monster!” Emi’s father shouted. He and Emi ran off.</p><p>As I watched, the monster landed amidst a group of people and sent out a wave of power with its wings. Everyone standing near the monster was thrown backwards. “Ankh!” Eiji called, putting on the OOO Driver. I passed him a set of Medals.</p><p>
  <em>Taka! Tora! Batta! Ta-to-ba, Ta-to-ba, TA-TO-BAA!</em>
</p><p>“No Combos,” I warned him. “I don’t want you overdoing yourself.”</p><p>Eiji chuckled. “I knew you cared about me,” he said. He ran off to fight, while I looked around for a better vantage point. Locating a nearby fire escape, I climbed to watch the battle from above. It was not going well. The bat sent a wave of power at Eiji. He flew backwards through a table. The monster began advancing towards him, wings spread menacingly.</p><p>A second Rider ran towards them. His armor was black and red, with golden horns on the helmet. “Hey! Over here!” he called to the monster. The monster turned its head, and the red Rider punched it in the face. The distraction gave Eiji the chance to get back up. Together, they attacked the monster from both sides.</p><p>“Kamen Riders!” the monster shouted angrily. “Emperor Chaos will be most displeased.” The monster took off into the air. It rose higher and higher. I reached for the Kujaku Medal so that Eiji could fly after it. Before I had the chance to throw the Medal his way, the monster disappeared without a trace.</p><p>“Tch,” I grumbled. At least we knew who it was working for…not that I’d ever heard of an “Emperor Chaos.”</p><p>“Thanks for your help,” Eiji said to the other Rider. “I’m Kamen Rider OOO. Who are you?”</p><p>The other Rider gave Eiji a thumbs-up. “I’m Kuuga,” he said. Then he ran off again, leaving as quickly as he’d come.</p><p>**</p><p>We met up for lunch with Shingo later that day. Eiji filled him in on our battle with the monster, and the mysterious other Rider. “Sounds exciting,” Shingo said. “Now we need to see what else we can find out about this Emperor Chaos.”</p><p>A man on the other side of the restaurant caught Shingo’s eye and waved. “Izumi-san!” he called.</p><p>“Oh! Ichijo-san!” Shingo called back.</p><p>Ichijo walked over to us. He wore a gray suit, a tan trench coat, and a serious expression. “Everyone, this is my co-worker, Captain Ichijo,” Shingo said. “Ichijo-san, this is my friend Eiji, and my…uh…”</p><p>“I’m Ankh,” I told him flatly.</p><p>“Nice to meet you!” Eiji added.</p><p>Ichijo looked back and forth at Shingo and me. “You never told me you had a brother,” he said.</p><p>“Tch! I imagine he doesn’t talk about me much,” I said. Eiji elbowed me.</p><p>“I owe Ichijo-san a lot,” Shingo said. “He really helped me when I returned from my…leave of absence.” He chuckled. “For a while, I was worried I’d never work as a police officer again. Ichijo-san was the only one willing to overlook the unexplained gap in my resume.” I scowled. “I don’t blame you, Ankh,” Shingo assured me. “You <em>did</em> save my life, after all.”</p><p>Ichijo’s eyebrows shot up. “Some day, you’ll have to tell me that story,” he said.</p><p>“Would you like to join us for lunch?” Shingo asked.</p><p>Ichijo smiled. “I’m waiting for Yusuke,” he said, shaking his head. “I swear, that man can do anything except sit still.”</p><p>A man in a red plaid shirt walked over from behind Ichijo. He caught my eye and put a finger to his lips. Tiptoeing, he crept close and put his hands over Ichijo’s eyes. “Guess who!” he said.</p><p>“Godai Yusuke,” Ichijo said with mock seriousness, “you were supposed to be here ten minutes ago.”</p><p>“Sorry I’m late,” Yusuke said, planting a kiss on Ichijo’s cheek. “Something came up.”</p><p>The corners of Ichijo’s lips turned up. “Do I even want to know what happened this time, my dear?”</p><p>“Nothing like that,” Yusuke assured him. “I was helping a boy find his lost cat.”</p><p>“And I assume you found it?” Ichijo asked.</p><p>Yusuke grinned and nodded. “It was stuck in a tree, but I got it down.” He gave Ichijo a thumbs-up.</p><p>“Oh!” Eiji cried. “Can it be…you’re Kuuga?”</p><p>I didn’t think Yusuke’s grin could get any wider, but it did. “Yes! And that means…you’re OOO!”</p><p>Shingo and Ichijo looked at each other, then at us. “What?” they said together.</p><p>“Now you <em>have</em> to join us for lunch,” Shingo said. “Both of you. We’ll tell you our story if you’ll tell us yours.”</p><p>The five of us sat together at one of the restaurant’s long tables. “You first,” Eiji offered to Yusuke.</p><p>He nodded. “It all began with a mysterious artifact,” he said. “When it was uncovered, it unleashed an ancient evil.”</p><p>“Sounds familiar,” I muttered.</p><p>“I went to the excavation site to warn everyone that my friend had found out the inscription contained a warning,” Yusuke continued. “That was when I saw the Arcle belt for the first time. And where I met Ichijo-san.” He grinned. “When I put on the belt, I became Kuuga. I was the only one with the power to fight the monsters.”</p><p>Ichijo gave him a sideways glance. “I nearly had you arrested for interfering with an official investigation,” he added. “The archaeologists were only the first casualties of the Unknown Life Forms.”</p><p>Shingo’s mouth dropped open. “You were in charge of <em>that</em> investigation?” he cried. Eiji and I looked at him in confusion. “It was nearly twenty years ago,” he explained. “There were reports of people being killed by monsters. I was only in middle school, but I still remember. Everyone was terrified.” He paused, remembering something else. “It can’t be…were <em>you</em> Number Four?” he asked Yusuke.</p><p>He grinned and gave us a thumbs-up. “They never revealed my identity to the public,” he said, “but things were better once the police knew who I was. They stopped shooting at me, for one thing.”</p><p><em>How can he be so casual about that?</em> I wondered. <em>He’s even more reckless than Eiji!</em></p><p>Shingo shook his head. “The newspapers all assumed Number Four was another one of the monsters who, for whatever reason, was on our side,” he explained to Eiji and me.</p><p>Ichijo nodded grimly. “The monsters were from a race called the Grongi,” he explained. “At first, we had no idea what to do. They spoke their own language, so we had no way to communicate with them. And once we did…” He sighed heavily. “It was all a game to them. We discovered that they were killing humans for sport.” I stopped and stared at him.</p><p>Eiji’s mouth dropped open in shock. “That’s terrible!”</p><p>“They make the Greeed sound like house pets,” I added.</p><p>“The Greeed?” Yusuke repeated.</p><p>Eiji nodded. “Like you, I became a Kamen Rider to fight an ancient race of monsters,” he said. “I got a job as a night watchman at the Kougami Foundation Museum. That was when the trouble started. First the museum was robbed, and then I met a weird floating arm…”</p><p>“That’s me,” I added.</p><p>Ichijo and Yusuke looked at me in confusion. “How?” Yusuke asked.</p><p>“I told you it was a long story,” Shingo said.</p><p>Together, the three of us explained everything, from my initial revival to my eventual death in the final battle against Doctor Maki. “You were right,” Ichijo told Shingo when we were done. “If it wasn’t for my own experience with monsters, I never would have believed a word of that story.”</p><p>Shingo chuckled. “I’m glad we have your help with this new threat,” he said. “What do we know so far?”</p><p>“The monster can fly and teleport,” Eiji said.</p><p>“And it can take other people with it,” I added.</p><p>Ichijo looked thoughtful. “That would explain how it can take people from locked rooms,” he said. “Do we have any idea where it’s taking its victims, or why?” Everyone shook their heads. “All right, finding out that information should be our top priority,” he said. The rest of us nodded.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 3 sneak peek:<br/>Why don’t you like Yusuke?" Eiji asked. "He’s been fighting as Kuuga for so long! And he helps people when he’s not fighting, too.”<br/>“Then why don’t you go and follow him?” I snapped.<br/>Eiji stopped. “It can’t be…Ankh, are you jealous?” he asked.<br/>“What? No!” I glared at Eiji. “Don’t be ridiculous.”</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I scowled at my reflection in the mirror. “Perfect!” Chiyoko said, looking my costume over. I was dressed in a starched white shirt, grey lederhosen, and suspenders printed with tiny flowers. “Now for the finishing touch.” She held out a black bowler hat.</p>
<p>“I refuse!” I said. “I draw the line at the hat. It’ll mess up my hair.”</p>
<p>“All right,” Chiyoko conceded. “Eiji-kun, you look great!” Eiji’s outfit was identical to mine, with the addition of the hat. “Although…you need more of a scowl, like Ankh-chan.”</p>
<p>At that, I scowled even harder.</p>
<p>Hina walked over to us. She was wearing a bright blue dress with puffy sleeves, and a white apron on top. “Eiji-kun and Ankh look so cute!” she said brightly.</p>
<p>"Tch!" I sneered. I felt ridiculous.</p>
<p>The door opened. “Go, go!” Chiyoko said, pushing us toward the group of customers who’d just entered.</p>
<p>“Thank you for coming to Cous Coussier!” Eiji said brightly. “It’s our German Festival!”</p>
<p>“<em>Wilkommen,</em>” I added, through gritted teeth.</p>
<p>Eiji led the customers to their table. I handed each of them a menu. Then we went back to the door to wait again.</p>
<p>Shingo pushed the door open. He took one look at me and burst out laughing. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “What’s so funny?” I demanded.</p>
<p>“I…I never thought…” He was still laughing, gasping for breath. “How on Earth did Chiyoko-san manage to rope you into helping out in the restaurant?”</p>
<p>I scowled. “She hid all the ice candy,” I admitted. “She won’t tell me where it is until we close for the night.” Shingo laughed again.</p>
<p>The door opened again. “Thank you for coming to Cous Coussier!” Eiji called. “Oh, Shouko-san, it’s you!”</p>
<p>“Yes. I am Shouko,” a voice said. I let go of Shingo and turned to look at the woman who’d spoken. There was something about her that seemed…off.</p>
<p>Eiji didn’t seem to notice. “Are you looking for Hina? I’ll go and get her,” he said. “Excuse me, please.” He headed towards the kitchen.</p>
<p>I tilted my head and stared at Shouko. “What are you?” I asked her.</p>
<p>Her stare went through me. “I am Shouko,” she said again. “This is a restaurant. I have come to purchase and consume food.”</p>
<p>“Shouko-chan!” Hina cried as she ran over. “I was so worried! What happened to you?”</p>
<p>“Oh!” Eiji cried. “That’s right! Hina-chan said that you had gone missing.” He looked at Shouko with newfound suspicion.</p>
<p>“Nothing has happened,” Shouko said. “I am here. I wish to consume a meal at this restaurant.”</p>
<p>Eiji and I shared a look. “Right this way,” he said, leading Shouko to an empty table.</p>
<p>“That’s not your friend,” I told Hina quietly.</p>
<p>“Definitely not,” she agreed immediately.</p>
<p>I turned to Shingo. “You should probably keep an eye out for anything else like this,” I told him. “See if the other kidnapped people have returned, and if anyone else reports them acting strangely.”</p>
<p>He nodded. “I’ll let Captain Ichijo know,” he said.</p>
<p>“What’s happened to Shouko-san?” Hina asked, worried.</p>
<p>“Dunno,” I told her.</p>
<p>Shingo put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find out,” he promised. “Whatever it is, we’ll save her.”</p>
<p>She smiled sadly. “Thank you, Onii-chan.”</p>
<p>Eiji walked back over to us. “Did anyone else think Hina-chan’s friend was acting…weird?”</p>
<p>I smirked at him. “So you finally figured it out.”</p>
<p>“What’s Emperor Chaos planning?” Eiji asked, worried. “Is he controlling people, or replacing them somehow?”</p>
<p>I froze. I hadn’t even considered that possibility. “If he <em>is</em> replacing people,” I said, “then what’s happened to the originals?”</p>
<p>“We need to find them,” Shingo said, “and fast.”</p>
<p>Eiji nodded in agreement.</p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Eiji woke me early the next morning. “The monster’s back,” he said. The Taka Candroid was flapping in his hand.</p>
<p>“Let’s go,” I said, jumping down from my shelf.</p>
<p>We ran into town. Once again, everything appeared normal at first. The streets were empty, the sun not yet fully over the horizon. “Who’d even be out this early for the monster to take?” I wondered, eyes scanning the deserted square.</p>
<p>“Oh!” Eiji cried. I turned to him and saw him staggering backwards. “Something’s…pulling me,” he said, trying to break free of some invisible force. “It’s got my arm!”</p>
<p>“Tch!” I grumbled. I ran at the empty space a few feet from Eiji and slammed my shoulder into something solid. For a moment, I saw the outline of some humanoid creature, before it disappeared again.</p>
<p>Eiji wrenched his arm free and pulled out the OOO Driver. “Ankh!” he called.</p>
<p>I nodded. “Don’t let the monster get away!” I cautioned, tossing him a set of Medals.</p>
<p>He clicked the Medals into the belt and transformed. “I can see it,” he told me, using the Taka eyes. “It’s not the same as the spider we fought yesterday.”</p>
<p>“There’s more than one?” I griped.</p>
<p>“This one looks like some sort of lizard,” he said.</p>
<p>“That’s right!” cried a voice behind me. I turned towards the sound. The air seemed to shimmer, and the monster materialized before my eyes. It was green and covered in bumpy scales, with large eyes and a frill on its head. A long tail curled up behind it. “I am Monstrous Chameleon!” the monster said. “It looks like Devil Bat was telling the truth. I will destroy you, Kamen Rider!”</p>
<p>Eiji shifted to a fighting stance. “Where have you taken those people?” he demanded.</p>
<p>Monstrous Chameleon laughed. “What are you talking about?” he said. “They’re right here!” Suddenly, he was surrounded by nearly a dozen people, all poised to defend him.</p>
<p>Eiji hesitated. “I can’t hurt these people!” he cried, distraught. “What should we do?”</p>
<p>A man ran at me. I knocked him to the ground. “Leave the fighting to me,” I said. The man rose to his feet. Blood trickled from a cut on his face. Blood that was bright orange. “Eiji!” I called. “They’re not human!”</p>
<p>Eiji nodded and raised his sword.</p>
<p>The battle continued. Eiji fought off the human copies, but I could tell he was still reluctant to deal any killing blows. “What’s wrong?” I called to him as I threw another punch.</p>
<p>“What if destroying the copy does something to the original?” he asked, blocking an attack from the side.</p>
<p>“It will make no difference,” Monstrous Chameleon boasted. “If you destroy the copy, Emperor Chaos will simply make another. He is all-powerful.”</p>
<p>I heard the roar of a motorcycle. Yusuke jumped off of his bike and ran toward us. “Henshin!” he shouted, transforming as he ran.</p>
<p>“Wow!” Eiji said. “That’s so cool!”</p>
<p>I gritted my teeth. “You’re late!” I called to him. “The monster can turn invisible. He’s using everyone else as a shield. They’re copies of the ones who disappeared.”</p>
<p>Kuuga nodded. “Got it,” he said.</p>
<p>With the two Riders fighting together, I was able to back away and find a place to watch the battle from above. Monstrous Chameleon turned invisible again, but Eiji was still able to track him. I watched as he fought what looked like empty air. Meanwhile, Kuuga took on six of the human copies at once, armed with nothing but his own fists and feet. He jumped into the air, kicking one of the copies straight in the chest.</p>
<p>I heard a familiar sound as the copy exploded. “It can’t be,” I said. “Cell Medals?” They looked…different. I couldn’t tell from this distance, but it looked like they were a different color. I jumped over the railing on the balcony.</p>
<p>My landing did not go as planned. I landed hard and stumbled, twisting my ankle as I fell. “Ankh!” Eiji cried. He ran over to me. “Are you all right?” He held out a hand. “You need to be more careful,” he said as he pulled me to my feet. “You only have a human body now.”</p>
<p>“I’m fine,” I said, wincing. “I’ll remember next time.” I pulled my hand out of Eiji’s grasp. My fingers were warm where he’d held them.</p>
<p>“Behind you!” Kuuga called.</p>
<p>Eiji spun around and slashed at a copy with his sword. It, too, exploded into Cell Medals. As they rained down, I saw that they were copper-colored instead of the familiar silver. I picked one up and rolled it between my fingers. “Where did these come from?” I asked.</p>
<p>I heard a high-pitched noise above me. Turning towards it, I saw the bat monster we’d fought yesterday. “I’ll be taking those,” Devil Bat said. It let out another screech, and the copper Cell Medals rose into the air. With a flap of its wings, the monster and Medals disappeared.</p>
<p>“Eiji!” Kuuga said. “Where did the other monster go?”</p>
<p>Eiji scanned the horizon. “I don’t see him anymore,” he said. The rest of the copied humans had disappeared, too. The Riders both ended their transformations.</p>
<p>I took a step forward and staggered. “Are you all right?” Yusuke asked, concerned. “You should wrap up that ankle, and stay off your feet for a few days.”</p>
<p>I scowled at him. “Don’t tell me what to do!” I snapped.</p>
<p>Yusuke grinned, his good humor undaunted. “I feel the same way when I’m injured,” he admitted. “Kaoru-kun always says I push myself too hard.”</p>
<p>“My friends tell me the same thing,” Eiji said, putting an arm around my shoulder. “But when I’m the only one who can fight, what am I supposed to do?”</p>
<p>“Exactly!” Yusuke cried. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. How did you know the monster was nearby?”</p>
<p>Eiji pulled out a Taka Candroid. “With this!” he said. He demonstrated it to Yusuke. “You can have one, too,” he said, passing it to him.</p>
<p>“Neat!” Yusuke said, watching it flap its wings.</p>
<p>“Oh! You should also have one of these,” Eiji added. He passed him a Batta Candroid, too. “We can use them to contact each other.”</p>
<p>Yusuke grinned. “Wow!” he said. “Thanks, Eiji!”</p>
<p>My scowl deepened.</p>
<p>“We should all meet up later to discuss everything,” Eiji said. “Ichijo-san, too. Come to this address.” He passed Yusuke a flier for Cous Coussier.</p>
<p>Yusuke nodded and placed the flier in his pocket. “I’ve got to get going,” he said. “I’m doing story time for my sister’s preschool class today.” He waved and walked back to his bike.</p>
<p>“How’s your ankle?” Eiji asked as we walked back to the restaurant.</p>
<p>“It’s fine,” I said. “I can walk it off.” It was starting to feel better already.</p>
<p>Eiji nodded. “Yusuke’s really something, isn’t he?” he said.</p>
<p>“I don’t like him,” I grumbled.</p>
<p>Eiji chuckled. “You never do,” he said. “But still, it’s good that we’re working with him.”</p>
<p>“You need to be more careful with the Candroids!” I said. “Don’t go giving them out to just anyone. We don’t have that many.”</p>
<p>“Ankh,” Eiji said, “we <em>do</em> need help with this new threat. Yusuke can help us, just like Gotou and Date did last time. Why don’t you like him? He’s been fighting as Kuuga for so long! And he helps people when he’s not fighting, too.”</p>
<p>“Then why don’t you go and follow him?” I snapped.</p>
<p>Eiji stopped. “It can’t be…Ankh, are you <em>jealous</em>?” he asked.</p>
<p>“What? No!” I glared at Eiji. “Don’t be ridiculous.”</p>
<p>Eiji put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. “The only one I’d ever want to partner with is you,” he said.</p>
<p>I looked away. There was something about the way Eiji was staring at me… “I’m not jealous,” I said again.</p>
<p>Eiji nodded, satisfied, and started walking again.</p>
<p>**</p>
<p>The next day, all of us met up at Climbing Zone, an indoor rock-climbing area. Hina pulled out her phone. “Excuse me,” she said to Yusuke, “but would you mind taking a picture of us?”</p>
<p>“We’re not here for sightseeing,” Ichijo reminded her. “We’re here because this place is near the center of the disappearances. We want to see if the owners know anything.”</p>
<p>“I know that,” Hina said. “But…I didn’t think I’d ever get a picture of all of us together.” She looked between Shingo, Eiji, and me.</p>
<p>“Sure!” Yusuke agreed immediately. Shingo stood next to Hina. I tried to move away, but Hina grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her other side. Eiji stood next to me. “Okay, everyone, smile!” He looked at the photo and passed Hina’s phone back.</p>
<p>“Thanks!” Hina said. She showed the picture to all of us. While the others were smiling, I had my usual scowl.</p>
<p>“Ankh,” Eiji chided, “you’re supposed to smile for pictures.”</p>
<p>“Tch!” I grumbled. “What’s the point?”</p>
<p>Hina shook her head. “I don’t mind,” she said. “Ankh wouldn’t be Ankh if he was smiling.”</p>
<p>The six of us went inside. A tiny woman with long hair pulled back in a ponytail stood behind the front desk. “Izumi-san!” she called to Shingo.</p>
<p>“Good morning, Minami-san,” he said.</p>
<p> “I haven’t seen you lately,” Minami said. “And you brought your friends this time!”</p>
<p>“Onii-chan!” Hina protested. “You go rock-climbing, too?”</p>
<p>“It’s perfectly safe,” he assured her.</p>
<p>Ichijo pulled out his police badge. “We’re here on business today,” he told Minami. “I wanted to ask if you’ve noticed anything strange in the area recently.”</p>
<p>Her face fell. “Oh,” she said. “Well…there was something with my business partner. I’m not sure it’s related, though.”</p>
<p>“Something with Ozawa-san?” Shingo asked, concerned. “Like what?”</p>
<p>“Well…” she began hesitantly. “Last week, he just…disappeared. I wasn’t too concerned at first—you know how he’s always going off somewhere—but when I didn’t even hear from him for three days, I started to get worried. Then he showed up yesterday like nothing had happened!”</p>
<p>Shingo and Ichijo shared a look. “If it’s all right, I’d like to get a statement from you,” Shingo told Minami. “Is Ozawa-san here now?”</p>
<p>She shook her head. “He’s not supposed to come in today until noon,” she said. Her face filled with worry. “Do you think he’s involved with the other disappearances somehow? He’s not a suspect, is he? Ozawa’s not…he wouldn’t…”</p>
<p>“Right now, we’re just trying to gather as much information as possible,” Ichijo said reassuringly. “Is there a back room or somewhere else we can go to take your statement?”</p>
<p>“It’s all right,” Shingo added.</p>
<p>Hesitantly, Minami nodded. She called for another employee to take over the front desk for her, and she, Ichijo, and Shingo disappeared into her office.</p>
<p>I looked over at the rock-climbing walls. Stretching nearly two stories high, they were covered in colorful chunks of rock in all shapes and sizes. “It looks like fun,” Yusuke remarked. “Anyone else want to try it out while we’re waiting?”</p>
<p>Hina watched the people who were already climbing. “Is it really safe?” she asked.</p>
<p>Yusuke nodded. “You see those harnesses everyone is wearing?” He pointed them out to her. “They’re attached to those long ropes, and the ropes go all the way up to the ceiling. There’s a pulley in there that keeps you from falling too fast, even if you lose your grip.”</p>
<p>One wall was covered in floor-to-ceiling windows. If I went right next to the window, I’d be able to see the whole city from the top of the wall. My fingers were itching to climb it.</p>
<p>“You guys can go ahead and try it,” Eiji said. “I’ll wait here with Ankh.”</p>
<p>I glared at him. “Who says I want to wait? Let’s go.” I grabbed Eiji’s arm and pulled him towards the front desk.</p>
<p>Eiji chuckled. “I knew you’d never admit that you actually wanted to do something,” he told me quietly.</p>
<p>I glared again, but my heart wasn’t in it. I shoved Eiji with my shoulder. He shoved me back.</p>
<p>“No horseplay!” the man behind the counter called sternly. “Does everyone know how to use the equipment?” Yusuke nodded. Eiji and Hina shook their heads. I crossed my arms and glared at the man.</p>
<p>After a brief lesson on how to put on the harnesses and attach them to the ropes, we were ready to climb. “Let’s start with that one,” Yusuke suggested. He pointed to a wall that was shorter than the others, with bigger hand and foot holds.</p>
<p>“Tch!” I said. “I don’t need to.” I looked over to the window, where someone else was just starting to climb. Gritting my teeth, I went to join the others. “This is too easy,” I grumbled.</p>
<p>Yusuke glanced at me. “It’s not as easy as it looks,” he said.</p>
<p>“Ankh can climb up to the attic window at the restaurant,” Eiji told Yusuke. “This probably is too easy for him.”</p>
<p>Yusuke grinned. “You do that, too?” he asked. “I learned how to climb up through a window because it was easier than remembering my keys.”</p>
<p>“Tch!” I scoffed. “I just like the view.”</p>
<p>We all found ropes at the shorter wall. I climbed up as fast as I could and watched the others below. Yusuke was climbing very slowly, demonstrating to Eiji and Hina how to place their hands and feet. Hina caught on quickly, but Eiji was still struggling.</p>
<p>Before long, Hina met me at the top of the wall. “This is fun!” she said. “Do you want to go try the bigger wall with me?”</p>
<p>I smirked at her. “If you think you can keep up with me.”</p>
<p>“All right, let’s go,” she said. Then she looked down. “Yusuke-san!” she called. “How do I get down from here?”</p>
<p>“Brace your feet against the wall,” he called up, “and hold on to the rope. Then you just kind of kick your feet out.”</p>
<p>“Got it!” Hina followed his instructions, kicking the wall every few feet as she descended.</p>
<p>I tried to jump down, which was a mistake. My feet slipped away from the wall, leaving me dangling in midair. Eiji laughed as I came down much more slowly than Hina had. I crossed my arms and glared at him. “At least I got up there in the first place,” I said.</p>
<p>“Ankh, come on,” Hina said, pulling at my arm. “Let’s go try the big wall next!”</p>
<p>We attached our harnesses in the middle of one of the tall walls and began climbing. Hina was able to keep up with me. “How are you so fast?” I grumbled.</p>
<p>“See that big rock up there?” Hina pointed to a large, bright blue rock. It was about two-thirds of the way up the wall, right in between our ropes. “Let’s have a race. First one to touch that rock wins. Loser buys everyone ice candy on the way home.”</p>
<p>I smirked at her. “You’re on.”</p>
<p>“Ready, set, go!” Hina called.</p>
<p>I started climbing again. No matter how fast I climbed, Hina was right next to me. Then she began to pull ahead. She was nearly on top of me when I saw her foot slip. With a shriek, she let go of the wall.</p>
<p>“Hina!” Before I knew what I was doing, I reached my hand out and grabbed her arm as she fell past me.</p>
<p>I held on as Hina found places for her feet and other hand. “Thanks,” she said. She paused, and then added, “You sounded just like Onii-chan when he’s worried about me.”</p>
<p>I scowled. “Don’t tell the others.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 4 sneak peek:<br/>“Don’t laugh,” I warned Shingo. “If you laugh at me, I’ll throw you off the roof.”<br/>“I promise,” he said. “Just tell me.”<br/>“Do you think Eiji’s in love with me?” The words came out in a rush.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eiji and I followed the Taka Candroid into battle. I hated not being able to rely on my own sense of where the monsters were. I was met with two unpleasant surprises. First, we had yet another new monster to face. This one was a human-spider hybrid. If I didn’t know any better, I would think it was one of Uva’s Yummys. The other surprise was that the monster was surrounded by a group of the orange Yummys. Kuuga was fighting them already, wearing blue armor this time.</p><p>“Are we dealing with a new type of Core Medals?” Eiji asked, worried.</p><p>“Worry about that later,” I advised. “Fight now!” I tossed him the TaToBa Medals. He caught them effortlessly and inserted them into the belt, transforming as he ran.</p><p>I climbed up a nearby tree and tried to come up with a strategy for the spider monster. <em>Uva is weak against light…or fire. I still don’t want to rush into using any Combos, though…</em></p><p>I watched the battle below. The spider began growing in size until she towered over the Riders. She sent out a web of string from her mouth, plastering the Riders to the wall. Kuuga pulled at the string and freed himself, then began pulling Eiji free.</p><p>Eiji definitely needed more power. I pulled out the Lion Medal. “Eiji! Switch Medals!” I called to him. He nodded, and I tossed it his way. Even with his feet stuck to the wall, he was able to reach over and catch the Medal.</p><p>“Wow! Nice catch!” Kuuga called, giving Eiji a thumbs-up. Then he turned his attention back to the five orange Yummys who circled around him. Eiji finished freeing himself from the webbing.</p><p>The new Combo was working much better. When the spider tried to shoot her webbing at him again, he blinded her with a blast of light. “Damn you, Kamen Rider!” the monster shouted. “You dare stand against Deadly Spider? I will show you what you’re dealing with!” Deadly Spider threw her head back. “Come, my children! Awaken!” she cried.</p><p>The Yummys all froze in place. Then they began to twitch and jerk. I watched in horror as they morphed into what appeared to be normal people. My stomach sank as I realized they had to resemble some of the people who’d gone missing.</p><p>“What is this?” I cried.</p><p>The copied humans shuffled towards the Riders. Kuuga swung his staff at three of them in a long, sweeping arc. All three exploded into copper Cell Medals.</p><p>“Ankh!” Eiji called to me. “Let’s try a Combo!”</p><p>I nodded and tossed him the Cheetah Medal.</p><p>
  <em>Lion! Tora! Cheetah! La-Tora-Ta, LaToraTAAA!!</em>
</p><p>I watched Eiji closely as the battle continued. While Kuuga fought the rest of the copy-humans, Eiji faced off against Deadly Spider. They appeared to be evenly matched. Deadly Spider shrank down to human size, then shot another strand of webbing at Eiji. He dodged and sliced at her with Tora’s claws. They traded blows back and forth until all of the copies had been defeated. Then Deadly Spider began shrinking again. “I will not forget your insolence, Kamen Riders!” she cried. She grew smaller and smaller, shrinking down until Eiji lost sight of her.</p><p>Devil Bat appeared from above, surveying the piles of Cell Medals from the destroyed minions. He began gathering the copper Medals once more. Eiji jumped up and slashed at him. Devil Bat dodged, but dropped a chunk of the Cell Medals in the process. I scrambled down from the tree and began gathering them up. By the time I finished, Devil Bat had managed to escape, and both of the Riders ended their transformations.</p><p>I began looking for something to hold all of the Cell Medals I’d gathered. “Here,” Yusuke said, pulling a reusable shopping bag from his pocket. “What do you need those for?”</p><p>“Emperor Chaos wants them,” I explained, dumping handfuls of Cell Medals into the bag. “We need to keep them out of his hands.” I looked over towards Eiji, who was swaying on his feet. “Tch! That idiot’s still pushing himself too hard,” I muttered under my breath.</p><p>Yusuke and I ran over to Eiji, each of us grabbing one of his arms. “Let’s get you back,” I said. “The next time you use a Combo, make sure you properly defeat the monster.”</p><p>Back at the restaurant, Yusuke and Hina took Eiji to rest in the attic. After grabbing an ice candy from the kitchen, I joined them upstairs. “The orange Yummys turn into copies of the missing people,” I informed Hina.</p><p>“That’s new,” she said, worried. “How does that work?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Emperor Chaos is supposedly still holding the real people who’ve disappeared, but we still don’t know where they are.” I smacked my fist into the wall in frustration. “We don’t know nearly enough about this new threat!”</p><p>“We know a good deal more than I did when I first became Kuuga,” Yusuke pointed out. “We know everyone’s names, for one thing. And we have a general idea of where to look. If we keep searching the area, I’m sure we’ll find everyone.” He gestured to the bag of Cell Medals sitting on a chair. “If we give those to the police, maybe they can analyze them and figure out how they were created.”</p><p>“Hina-chan!” Chiyoko called from downstairs. “I’m back! Can you come help me put all this away?”</p><p>“Coming!” Hina called back. She turned to Eiji. “Make sure he sleeps,” she told Yusuke. He nodded, and Hina went downstairs.</p><p>I looked at Eiji. He was sound asleep, his face peaceful. “How long have the two of you been a couple?” Yusuke asked.</p><p>I stared at him in confusion. “What?”</p><p>“You’re not?” he asked, surprised. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to assume anything. It’s just…I’ve seen the way the two of you look at each other.”</p><p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I snapped.</p><p>“Sorry,” he said again. “I really am sorry. It’s none of my business.” He paused. “Ichijo-san and I were friends for years before we started dating,” he said. “I was just as surprised as everyone else when I looked at him one day and realized I wanted to be more than friends. I was lucky he felt the same way.”</p><p>I turned away from him and took a bite of my ice candy. <em>Eiji…and me? Together? Impossible! We’re…friends. That’s all.</em></p><p>“Anyway,” Yusuke said. “I should get going. I’ll see you around.” I heard him leave, closing the door behind him.</p><p>Scowling, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. It had been Shingo’s, from a few years ago, and he’d passed it on to me. I scrolled through the contacts.</p><p>Shingo answered on the second ring. “This is Detective Izumi.”</p><p>“Hey,” I answered. “It’s me.”</p><p>“Ankh!” he said. “What’s up?”</p><p>“There’s been a new development with Emperor Chaos and the missing people,” I said. Briefly, I explained what had happened in the latest battle. “And…we have some of the new Cell Medals for the police to analyze.”</p><p>“Good,” he said. “How’s Eiji doing?”</p><p>I sighed. “He’s fine,” I said. “Sleeping right now.” I paused, wanting to ask him about what Yusuke had said. Before, his voice in my head had begun as an annoyance. Over time, though, I’d come to expect his opinion on everything that was happening. I almost missed it. “Hey, Shingo…” But I couldn’t bring myself to ask him. The whole idea seemed too ridiculous to even say out loud.</p><p>“Is there something else?” he asked after a long silence.</p><p>“Nothing,” I said. “It’s nothing.”</p><p>Eiji slept through the rest of the day. Hina and Chiyoko pressed me into helping out with dinner again, along with Yusuke, who spent the evening charming all of the customers. I spent my time avoiding him as much as possible.</p><p>It was nearly midnight by the time the restaurant finished closing for the day. I grabbed one final ice candy from the freezer and headed upstairs. Eiji was still sleeping. I climbed up onto my shelf and glanced down at him. Did he really see me as more than just a friend? I didn’t need any more layers to our relationship. I tried to fall asleep, but my mind was racing. After hours of tossing and turning, I finally gave up. I jumped down from the shelf, landing quietly on the floor. With one final backwards glance at Eiji, I climbed out of the window and down to the street below.</p><p>I wandered down the dark, quiet streets, letting the cool air clear my head. Before long, I found myself at the three-story office building that had become my favorite place to watch the city. I climbed the fire escape up to the roof and sat, watching the night sky. Gradually, the sun began to rise.</p><p>I heard footsteps behind me. I spun around angrily, expecting Eiji, but instead found Shingo. “Eiji told me you were gone,” he explained. “I told him I thought I knew where to find you.” Wordlessly, I turned back around. Shingo’s footsteps got closer. He sat down behind me so we were back-to-back. “What happened?” he asked gently. “Whatever you wanted to talk to me about yesterday, it clearly wasn’t nothing.”</p><p>I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Don’t laugh,” I warned him. “If you laugh at me, I’ll throw you off the roof.”</p><p>“I promise,” he said. “Just tell me.”</p><p>“Do you think Eiji’s in love with me?” The words came out in a rush.</p><p>Shingo was silent for a long moment. “He <em>did</em> spend eight years trying to bring you back,” he pointed out. “The two of you clearly have some sort of bond. Would it really be so bad if it was love? How do you feel about Eiji?”</p><p>“I care about him,” I admitted. “He was the first person I ever cared about besides myself. But what does Eiji see in <em>me</em>? We’re nothing alike.”</p><p>“I don’t know about that,” Shingo said. “You’re both stubborn. You both have trouble admitting you need help. And you both are willing to sacrifice everything to protect the things you care about.” He paused. “If you want to know how Eiji feels about you, you’ll have to ask him.”</p><p>“Tch! That’s never going to happen,” I said.</p><p>Shingo sighed. “You can’t keep avoiding him.”</p><p>As if to prove his point, a Taka Candroid came flying over. I heard Eiji’s footsteps thundering up the stairs. “It’s Devil Bat,” he said, panting. “Yusuke’s there already. They’re nearby.” He noticed Shingo and added, “Oh, Shingo-san, you found him!”</p><p>Shingo grinned. “Hi, Eiji.”</p><p>“Come on, idiot,” I said to Eiji, pulling his sleeve. “Let’s get going.” I stalked off down the stairs.</p><p>Eiji was right behind me. “What’s going on with you? Is everything okay?” he asked, concerned.</p><p>“We are <em>not</em> discussing this now,” I told him forcefully. We reached the bottom of the stairs and I broke into a run.</p><p>“Whatever it is, we’ll get through it together,” Eiji promised. “I know you’ll tell me when you’re ready.”</p><p>I sighed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 5 sneak peek:<br/>“We came here to join you,” I said. <br/>Eiji whipped his head towards me. I met his eyes, pleading for him to play along. “Yeah, that’s right,” he said. <br/>“You’re clever,” I said to Emperor Chaos. “You’ve been taking all of these people, with no one the wiser, and building an empire right under Kougami’s nose. Clearly, you are powerful, and I want to be on the winning side. But most of all, I want to know how you’ve done it.”</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kuuga was fighting Devil Bat near the woods at the edge of town. More of the orange Yummys were with him. I tossed Eiji the TaToBa Medals and searched for a good vantage point as he transformed. Working together, he and Kuuga finished off the Yummys quickly. Then they circled around Devil Bat. Eiji went into an attack stance. Something caught his eye that made him stop. “Ankh!” he called up to me. “I need a Medal!”</p><p>“Which one?” I called back. He ignored me. “Which Medal?” I called again. He gave a slight shake of his head. So he’d heard me, then. Gritting my teeth, I climbed down and stalked over to him.</p><p>“Stay with me,” Eiji muttered before I could say anything to him. “Monstrous Chameleon’s here, too. He doesn’t know I’ve seen him.”</p><p>I smirked. “What’s the plan?”</p><p>“Follow him,” Eiji said. “We might be able to find their base, or where they’re holding the kidnapped people.” He turned his head, and then grabbed my hand. Eiji broke into a run, with me trailing after him. We ran into the woods, darting through the trees. We paused every few yards, trying not to let Monstrous Chameleon know he was being followed. After a few minutes, Eiji stopped entirely and spun around, looking in all directions. “I don’t see him anymore,” he whispered to me. He ended his transformation.</p><p>I looked down at the ground, which was muddy from a recent bout of rain. “He may be invisible, but he can’t hide those,” I said, indicating a set of large footprints.</p><p>Eiji nodded, and we began following Monstrous Chameleon’s tracks. They led us to a large cave deep in the woods. I paused at the mouth of the cave. There were definitely voices coming from inside. I looked at Eiji, and he nodded. Together, we headed into the cave.</p><p>“I don’t <em>know</em> how he’s able to see me when I’m invisible!” I heard Monstrous Chameleon’s voice from around a corner. “But I lost him in the woods.”</p><p>“You’re sure?” The new voice was harsh. “We can’t have the Kamen Riders finding this place.”</p><p>“No, Emperor Chaos!” Monstrous Chameleon agreed. Eiji started to move into the open. I put my hand on his arm, urging him to wait. “How are the new recruits?” Monstrous Chameleon asked.</p><p>Emperor Chaos chuckled. “Come and see.” I heard their voices moving deeper into the cave. Quietly, Eiji and I made our way along the cave wall, following them from a distance. We made our way into a large chamber filled with what appeared to be Yummy eggs. Emperor Chaos and Monstrous Chameleon were close by. Eiji and I knelt behind the eggs. I stuck my head up just enough to see what was happening.</p><p>Emperor Chaos was a tall man who appeared to be in his early forties. He wore a white suit and a long red cape, and carried a long scepter made of bronze. He was holding another man, much younger, by the arm. The man struggled against his hold. “What is your desire?” Emperor Chaos demanded.</p><p>A slot opened in the man’s forehead. “Please, let me go!” he cried. “My wife…my son…let me go home to them!”</p><p>Emperor Chaos laughed and threw a copper Cell Medal into the man’s forehead. “Your wish will come true,” he promised the man. One of the eggs began rocking back and forth, glowing with an eerie light. Moments later, an orange Yummy emerged. Almost immediately, it evolved into a copy of the man in Emperor Chaos’ hold. “He will go home to your family,” Emperor Chaos sneered. “While you will remain here, a servant of the Chaos Empire!”</p><p>“No!” the man cried.</p><p>“Off with him!” Emperor Chaos shouted. Monstrous Chameleon led the man farther into the bowels of the cave.</p><p>Eiji and I looked at each other in shock. “What is happening?” he whispered.</p><p>I shook my head. “We’ve got another human-Greeed hybrid…somehow. But with new Cell Medals. Probably new Core Medals, too, if those new monsters are any indication.”</p><p>“Emperor Chaos!” I heard Devil Bat’s voice from behind us. <em>Shit!</em> We had nowhere to hide. “I don’t know what you’re doing here,” Devil Bat hissed at us, “but the Emperor will not be pleased.” He grabbed me with one arm, and Eiji with the other, and marched us into the egg chamber. “Emperor Chaos, I have returned from battle with the Kamen Riders,” he boasted. “And…I have found these two spies.” I knew Eiji would likely have to transform to get us out of here. Slowly, I reached for the album of Core Medals in my back pocket.</p><p>Emperor Chaos didn’t give us a second glance. He looked at Devil Bat, unimpressed. “And my troops?” he asked. “Where have they gone?”</p><p>Devil Bat suddenly became very interested in a crack on the cave floor. “I…they were…that is, I…”</p><p>“Are you telling me,” Emperor Chaos demanded, “that though you were sent out in command of <em>two dozen</em> copied humans, you are the only one who survived?”</p><p>“Both of the Riders were there!” Devil Bat protested.</p><p>“Silence!” Emperor Chaos’ face was red with rage. “That’s still only two against twenty-five!” I now had a set of Core Medals concealed in my hand. The emperor finally seemed to notice Eiji and me. “Now, who are the two of you?” he asked.</p><p>I stared at him defiantly. “Answer!” Devil Bat said. He shoved Eiji and me to the ground. I put my hands out to catch my fall. Eiji met my eye, and I nodded. He put his hand next to mine, grabbing the Medals I had concealed.</p><p>I rose to my feet. “We came here to join you,” I said.</p><p>Eiji whipped his head towards me. I met his eyes, pleading for him to play along. “Yeah, that’s right,” he said.</p><p>“You’re clever,” I said to Emperor Chaos. “You’ve been taking all of these people, with no one the wiser, and building an empire right under Kougami’s nose. Clearly, you are powerful, and I want to be on the winning side. But most of all, I want to know how you’ve done it.”</p><p>I saw the understanding in Eiji’s eyes then. Subtly, he nodded at me.</p><p>Emperor Chaos looked at us. “All right, then,” he said. “I don’t mind telling you. Once, I was a low-level employee at a certain company. I came up with a plan to move up in the company, and my employer agreed. I went to work undercover for his rival, Kougami Industries.” Eiji and I looked at each other in shock. “I was there for nearly ten months,” the emperor continued. “Kougami-san called me to his office on my birthday. He said that he had known the whole time that I was a spy, and that he admired my ambition. As my birthday present, he was merely firing me instead of contacting the police.”</p><p>I snorted. “That sounds like Kougami, all right.”</p><p>“I packed up my desk,” he continued. “Kougami thought I had only been there to uncover the secrets of his business. He never knew about my other objective. I spent my time working in the archives, where I searched for the notes of a certain king…from 800 years ago.” Eiji’s face went pale. “That’s right!” Emperor Chaos shouted. “I had uncovered the secret of the Core Medals. Along with his notes, I found…this.” The emperor walked over to a set of three Cell Medals hanging in a frame on the cave wall. The first one was bright orange and held the image of a chameleon. The second was a deep orange, almost red, with the image of a bat. The third was amber-colored and pictured a spider.</p><p>“From this chameleon Medal,” he began, stroking it lovingly, “and from the essence of my lieutenants, I was able to create a set of nine Core Medals. The rest of these Medals reside inside my body,” he said casually, walking away from the frame on the wall. “They have given me the power to create my army of copied humans. Soon, they will be numerous enough to conquer the entire city!”</p><p><em>Core Medals created from monsters…a monster Greeed?</em> I shuddered at the thought.</p><p>Eiji and I looked at each other. “This is bad, Ankh,” he muttered.</p><p>I held my hand out to touch the chameleon Core Medal. The first brush of my fingers made me jerk my hand back in shock. There was a definite aura of power coming from the Core Medals. It was even stronger than the purple Medals that had possessed Eiji in the past. But where the purple Medals had held raw, untamed power, this was power that had been honed and shaped into something malevolent.</p><p>“So, you want to join our empire,” Devil Bat said. He didn’t sound convinced.</p><p>“I’m sure we can find a place for you in the mines,” Emperor Chaos said. “You can work your way up the ranks from there.”</p><p>“I think we’ve learned everything we need to,” I said to Eiji. He nodded.</p><p>“What are you babbling about?” Emperor Chaos demanded.</p><p>“Monstrous Chameleon didn’t lose us after all,” Eiji said. He clicked the Medals into his belt. “Henshin!”</p><p>
  <em>Taka! Kujaku! Condor! TaJaDor!</em>
</p><p>“A Kamen Rider!” Devil Bat shouted.</p><p>“Get him!” Emperor Chaos cried.</p><p>Eiji attacked. Devil Bat flapped his wings and sent out a wave of power, sending Eiji flying into the cave wall. The frame containing the Cell Medals fell with a clatter. Eiji staggered to his feet, preparing to attack again. He slashed at Devil Bat and scored a hit. They continued trading blows. The tide of battle shifted back and forth, but Eiji was gaining the upper hand. Then Emperor Chaos stepped in. He fired at Eiji with his scepter. A red laser blasted him in the chest. Eiji staggered back.</p><p>“Eiji! We need to get out of here!” I called to him.</p><p>Eiji let out a blast of power in all directions, knocking Devil Bat and Emperor Chaos backwards. He used the distraction to grab hold of me and fly us out of the cave. “Well, now we know where he’s keeping everyone,” he said. We flew up and over the woods, landing back on the edge of town. Eiji ended his transformation.</p><p>We walked back to the restaurant, where I grabbed myself an ice candy before joining Eiji upstairs. “We need to tell the others that we’ve found their hideout,” he said.</p><p>I shrugged and took a bite of my ice candy. “We’ll have another meeting tonight.”</p><p>“And…I may have something that will help us fight Emperor Chaos.” Eiji grinned at me excitedly.</p><p>“What do you mean?” I asked, tilting my head.</p><p>Eiji held out his hand. In it were the three orange Core Medals.</p><p><em>What? How did he…?</em> Then I remembered Eiji hitting the cave wall and knocking the Core Medals down.</p><p>I grabbed Eiji by the collar of his shirt and pressed him against the wall. “Idiot! What is the meaning of this?”</p><p>Eiji swallowed. “I thought you’d be glad that we had them,” he said. “It means more Medals for us.” The look in his eyes…was something other than fear.</p><p>I released him and took a step back. “Can’t you feel it?” I asked. “Those Medals are dangerous.”</p><p>“They don’t feel dangerous to me,” Eiji said thoughtfully. “I took them because I could feel them calling to me.”</p><p>I glared at him. “Idiot! I don’t want you transforming with those.”</p><p>Eiji grinned at me. “I never thought I’d hear you say you <em>didn’t</em> want Core Medals.”</p><p>“Yeah, that should tell you something, then,” I spat. “Give them here. I’ll keep them with the others.”</p><p>Eiji passed the Medals over. I could feel their ominous power seeping into my hand as I delicately inserted them into the album with the other Cores.</p><p>
  <strong>**</strong>
</p><p>That evening, we met with Yusuke and Ichijo at the restaurant. Eiji filled them in on the day’s events.</p><p>“It sounds like we’re finally getting somewhere,” Ichijo said, relieved.</p><p>“Did you see where they’re keeping everyone?” Hina asked.</p><p>Eiji shook his head. “The cave is pretty big,” he explained. “But I’m sure the kidnapped people are somewhere inside.”</p><p>“Can I see the new Medals you got?” Yusuke asked, intrigued.</p><p>“Sure!” Eiji agreed.</p><p>I scowled. “I don’t feel like taking them out.”</p><p>Eiji chuckled. “I think Ankh’s afraid of them.” He punched me lightly in the shoulder.</p><p>My scowl deepened. “They’re not like the other Cores.” Eiji was right. I <em>was</em> afraid. I couldn’t explain it, but something about the orange Medals left me…uneasy.</p><p>I saw the shock on Eiji’s face. He’d expected me to deny it, to rise to his bait and pull out the Cores to prove I wasn’t afraid. “Still, at least Emperor Chaos doesn’t have a full set anymore,” he pointed out.</p><p>“It’s not a big deal,” Yusuke said. “You don’t have to show me. I was just curious. After all, <em>I’ve</em> been mysteriously drawn to strange objects before, too.”</p><p>The corners of Ichijo’s mouth quirked. “And look at the trouble <em>that</em> got you into.”</p><p>“I think you mean it got me <em>out</em> of trouble,” he countered with a grin.</p><p>With a sigh, I pulled the album of Core Medals from my back pocket. If Yusuke agreed with me that they were dangerous… “Here they are.” I opened the album, but didn’t remove any of the Cores.</p><p>Yusuke looked our collection over, frowning thoughtfully. He ran his finger over the orange Medals, then the yellow. Then orange again. Then red. “I can’t feel anything,” he admitted finally. “The orange ones don’t seem any different from the others to me.”</p><p>“Which doesn’t mean we don’t believe you,” Shingo added.</p><p>Yusuke nodded in agreement. “My fate was tied to the Arcle,” he said. “Eiji-kun’s fate is tied to those Medals.”</p><p>Eiji chuckled nervously. “You make it sound so serious.”</p><p>“It <em>is</em> serious,” Yusuke said, looking Eiji in the eye. For once, the carefree grin was gone. “If these Medals are as powerful as you say, you’ll need to be careful with how you wield that power. And don’t let the power control <em>you.</em>”</p><p>After a long moment, Eiji nodded in understanding. “Got it.”</p><p>Ichijo put an arm around Yusuke’s shoulder. Yusuke grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I’m all right,” he said, looking at Ichijo.</p><p>I noticed Hina looking at the two of them. “So, when did the two of you start dating?” she asked. Next to me, Eiji leaned forward to listen.</p><p>Ichijo chuckled. “It took us years,” he admitted. “At first, both of us were only focused on stopping the Grongi. After the final fight with them, Yusuke just…disappeared. For months.”</p><p>“I needed time to myself,” he explained. “To…recharge. But I came back.” Ichijo nodded. “It was hard for us to find time together at first, without the Unidentified Life Form case connecting us,” Yusuke continued. “He’s married to his job.”</p><p>“And you can’t stay in one place for longer than five minutes,” Ichijo shot back. “But somehow, we kept finding ourselves spending time together.” He looked at Yusuke and smiled. I felt Eiji glance towards me.</p><p>“Tch,” I sneered. “Who cares about love? How pointless.” Scowling, I got up and stalked into the kitchen. <em>Why is everyone suddenly interested in dating?</em></p><p>I heard footsteps behind me. “So love is pointless?” Shingo asked.</p><p>I opened the freezer door and grabbed an ice candy. “Want one?”</p><p>“I…sure,” Shingo said, taken aback. “Thank you.” I passed one to him. We unwrapped them and began eating in silence. “You used to think friends were pointless, too,” he said finally.</p><p>“Maybe I still do,” I grumbled.</p><p>Shingo took another bite of his ice candy. “You didn’t think you’d like food, either,” he reminded me.</p><p>“Hmph.” I crunched on my ice candy, letting the bright, tangy lime flavor fill my mouth. I hadn’t understood how different the Greeed were from humans until I’d experienced taste for the first time. “So love is just one more thing we Greeed wouldn’t understand?” Even Maki had said as much, all those years ago, when Mezool acted like she was attracted to him.</p><p>He shrugged. “You’re human now.” He ate the last bite of his ice candy. “Thanks for sharing with me,” he said, holding up the empty stick. He walked back to join the others. I watched him go, my mind lost in thought.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 6 sneak peek: <br/>“You and me, on a date? That’s a good one,” I scoffed.<br/>“Is that a yes?” Eiji asked with a grin.<br/>I glared at him. “Idiot!”<br/>He chuckled. “That wasn’t a no,” he pointed out. “I’ll take it.”</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We’re training,” I announced to Eiji the next day. My voice left no room for argument. “Before we use those new Medals in battle, we need to see what they do.”</p><p>“Or if they’re even compatible with your belt,” Shingo pointed out.</p><p>I nodded. “That too.” Part of me hoped they wouldn’t be. I plucked the chameleon Medal from the album, along with Tora and Batta, and tossed them to Eiji. “We try them one at a time.”</p><p>He nodded grimly and inserted the Medals. He tried to activate the Belt, but it wouldn’t move. “It’s no good!” he called to me.</p><p>“Toss them back,” I instructed. “We’ll try a different set.” I gave him Taka and Condor, along with the bat Medal. Still no luck. We tried a few other Combos, but none of them would even let the Belt activate.</p><p>“I don’t think we can combine them with the other Medals,” Eiji said after we’d tried combining Shachi with the bat and spider. “We’ll have to try all three.”</p><p>I nodded grimly and tossed Eiji the chameleon Medal. I watched with trepidation as he clicked all three of the orange Medals into the Belt. I held my breath as he tried to activate it, hoping it would result in another failure. But this time, the Belt shifted into place. As Eiji held the scanner, I noticed his hand was shaking.</p><p>“Eiji!” Yusuke’s voice sounded from the Batta Candroid. “There are monsters attacking downtown! I think Monstrous Chameleon is here too, but I can’t see him.”</p><p>I picked up the Candroid. “We’re on our way!” I called. “Eiji! We’ll have to test your new form another time. Give the Medals back.”</p><p>He nodded wordlessly and pressed the orange Medals into my palm. “Let’s go,” he said. We ran off together.</p><p>“Hey, Ankh,” Eiji said as we ran. “I was thinking…when this is all over, maybe we can go do something together just for fun. You know, just the two of us.”</p><p>“Tch! You mean like a date?” I sneered.</p><p>“Exactly!” he said excitedly.</p><p>I froze. <em>Oh no. Yusuke was right.</em></p><p>“It wouldn’t have to be anything fancy,” Eiji continued, oblivious to my distress. “We could go for ice cream, maybe see a movie…so, Ankh, what do you say?” He finally realized I was no longer next to him.</p><p>I ran to catch up with him. “You and me, on a date? That’s a good one,” I scoffed.</p><p>“Is that a yes?” he asked with a grin.</p><p>I glared at him. “Idiot!”</p><p>He chuckled. “That wasn’t a no,” he pointed out. “I’ll take it.”</p><p>I tossed Eiji the TaToBa Medals as we neared the site of the battle, and he transformed as he ran towards Kuuga and the group of copied humans he was fighting. I watched from behind a fence as the two Riders took out monster after monster. Somehow, every time they took one out, another appeared in its place. “How many of them <em>are</em> there?” Kuuga asked as he punched another in the face.</p><p>I rushed up a nearby fire escape to get a wider view. As I watched, a group of three more copies seemed to flicker into existence from around the corner of a building. It had to be Monstrous Chameleon, camouflaging the ones waiting to join the battle. “Eiji!” I called to him. “On your right!”</p><p>He turned and ran, seeing the source. Once again, he began battling an invisible opponent. I looked back towards Kuuga. With Monstrous Chameleon fighting Eiji, he couldn’t send any more copies his way. At last, the group of monsters he battled began to diminish.</p><p>Eiji slashed at the air, and suddenly Monstrous Chameleon was visible. Eiji kicked. He blocked and threw a punch. Eiji dodged to the side and slashed again with his sword. As the battle continued, it was clear that Eiji had the upper and. “Ankh!” he called up to me. “TaJaDor!” Grinning, I tossed him the Medals. Eiji transformed and flew up in the air to deliver the final blow. He came down and kicked Monstrous Chameleon right in the chest.</p><p>Monstrous Chameleon staggered and fell to the ground. He staggered to his feet and stared at Eiji defiantly. “This isn’t over!” he cried. “You may have defeated me, but you will never stop the Chaos Empire.” He flickered in and out of sight as he continued ranting. “The Emperor has eyes and ears everywhere. He knows where to strike next, and not even you will be able to stop him.” He became visible once more, and fell to his knees before exploding in a burst of power that left my ears ringing.</p><p>I ran down to join Eiji as he ended his transformation. “I wonder what he meant about knowing where to strike next,” Eiji said, worried.</p><p>“Who knows?” I said. “This should put a stop to the disappearances, at least.”</p><p>Eiji nodded.</p><p>**</p><p>The next day, I sat with Eiji and Hina in the restaurant, the three of us eating lunch together. Chiyoko walked over to our table. “It’s busy today,” she remarked, satisfied. “If we get any more customers, I might need someone to help out.”</p><p>“I will,” Eiji volunteered. “Since Hina-chan already helped you pass out fliers this morning.”</p><p>Chiyoko nodded. “Thank you, Eiji-kun.” She went back off to another table.</p><p>“I guess the fliers worked,” Hina said with a smile.</p><p>I poked at my pasta suspiciously with my fork.</p><p>“It’s spaghetti,” Eiji explained. “With tomato sauce.” Right. The theme for the day was Italy.</p><p>“I went to Italy a couple years ago,” Hina told me. “I was at a fashion show in Milan. It was so much fun! I see now why Eiji-kun and Chiyoko-san like to travel so much.”</p><p>“Eiji told me you have your own line of clothes coming out,” I said.</p><p>Hina nodded excitedly. “Oh! That reminds me, I just finished designing the logo! Do you want to see?”</p><p>“Sure!” Eiji said. I settled for a noncommittal shrug.</p><p>Hina reached into her bag and pulled out a file folder filled with designs. “Here it is,” she said, placing a sheet of paper on the table between us. The logo was her family name, Izumi, written in bright red Romanized characters. The beginning “I” resembled a feather.</p><p>I smirked at her. “Not bad.”</p><p>She flushed with pride. “Do you…do you want to see some of the clothing designs, too?”</p><p>“Whatever,” I said, trying to sound bored.</p><p>Hina leafed through the folder. “This one is—” she began.</p><p>“Hina-chan!” Chiyoko interrupted, walking over to our table. “Your friend is here to see you again.” She sat Shouko’s impostor at our table and went back to the kitchen.</p><p>The impostor stared at us all, an unnatural smile on her face. “This is a nice place,” she said. I glared at her. Shouko met my eyes and stared back. “But not for long.”</p><p>“What does <em>that</em> mean?” I demanded.</p><p>“Hey!” Chiyoko called from the kitchen. “What are you doing? You can’t be in here!”</p><p>I heard a crash.</p><p>As one, all of the customers in the restaurant rose and began trashing the place. They hurled plates to the floor, turned over tables, and threw chairs. I ducked from the flying debris.</p><p>“They’re impostors…everyone here is one of Emperor Chaos’ copies,” Eiji whispered, horrified.</p><p>Hina threw not-Shouko to the floor. The impostor laughed. “It’s like you were told yesterday,” she gloated. “Emperor Chaos sees and hears all.”</p><p>Chiyoko ran out of the kitchen, brandishing a frying pan, and began swinging it at any of the copied humans who came within reach.</p><p>No.<em> No.</em> This couldn’t be happening. This was my <em>home.</em> I watched in horror as the copied humans continued their path of destruction.</p><p>When Eiji asked for the orange Medals, I didn’t object.</p><p>He inserted the Medals and clicked the belt into place. “Henshin!”</p><p><em>Bakemon! Akuma! Shinigami!</em> The voice was deeper than normal, laced with menace. <em>BaKuGami!</em></p><p>His new form was orange and black. The head was shaped like a lizard’s. The body had large, batlike wings. Shadows wove around his legs, giving the appearance of several extra limbs. Eiji held up his arm, and a scythe appeared in his hand. He moved slowly, trying to get a feel for the new form. It positively oozed power, so strong I could almost taste it. There was something about it that felt horribly familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.</p><p>“Eiji! How are you doing?” I called.</p><p>“I’m all right!” Eiji called back.</p><p>“Let me know the second that changes!” I told him.</p><p>He nodded and rushed into the fray. Within moments, he had destroyed several of the copies. Chiyoko gaped as she watched them collapse into piles of Cell Medals. “These are copies of the people who’ve gone missing,” Eiji explained.</p><p>The rest of the copies began running outside. Eiji and I followed them.</p><p>Devil Bat appeared above, watching the battle. He looked Eiji over. “It can’t be!” he cried. “You…<em>you</em> are the one who stole the Emperor’s missing Core Medals!”</p><p>“That’s right,” Eiji said. He jumped at Devil Bat, his scythe in the air.</p><p>Their battle was fierce, but brief. Eiji was ruthless, dodging nearly everything Devil Bat sent his way and scoring hit after hit. When Devil Bat tried to fly away, Eiji flew after him and sent out a wave of power with his wings. Devil Bat froze and fell to the ground like a stone. He stumbled to his feet. Before he could attack again, Eiji swept his scythe around in a swift, powerful arc across Devil Bat’s chest.</p><p>Devil Bat staggered backwards. “Impossible!” he cried. “I…I am Emperor Chaos’ right-hand man!”</p><p>“You tell Emperor Chaos he made a mistake,” I said. “Attacking this place.”</p><p>“He won’t get the chance to.”</p><p>I whipped my head towards Eiji at the sound of that voice. It had come from him, but the voice was someone else’s. At once, I realized why it seemed so familiar. <em>It can’t be…</em></p><p>“Help!” Eiji shouted. His eyes flashed from green to orange. Then he let out a cold, cruel laugh that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He slashed at Devil Bat again, creating a slash in the opposite direction.</p><p>Devil Bat fell to his knees. “Please!” he cried. “P-please! Have mercy!”</p><p>With another laugh, OOO brought his scythe straight down, cleaving Devil Bat in two.</p><p>“Stop!” Hina cried. “Eiji-kun, what are you doing?”</p><p>“That’s not Eiji anymore,” I breathed. He had never taken pleasure in the destruction of the monsters. Even with the purple Medals…he had been brutal, at times, but not malicious.</p><p>“Ankh! What do we do?” Hina asked.</p><p>OOO froze. “Ankh?” The voice was deeper, menacing, but laced with surprise.</p><p>OOO’s eyes flashed green once more. Hurriedly, Eiji ended his transformation and pressed the orange Core Medals into my hand. “That was close,” he said, shaken.</p><p>“Idiot!” I cried. “Do you realize who that was?” Eiji shook his head.</p><p>“What’s going on?” Hina asked.</p><p>“I recognized that other voice,” I said. “Although I haven’t heard it in 800 years.”</p><p>Eiji’s face paled. “The king…the original OOO.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Bakemon= Monster<br/>Akuma= Demon<br/>Shinigami= Death god </p><p>Chapter 7 sneak peek:<br/>“Tch! I’m not sharing with anyone,” I said. “I’ll sleep out on the balcony.”<br/>“Are you sure?” Shingo asked, concerned. “It’s supposed to rain tonight.”<br/>“I’ll be fine,” I said.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We walked back into the restaurant to survey the damage. Most of the tables and chairs were overturned. Broken glass crunched under my feet from a broken window.</p><p>The kitchen had been trashed, too. Chiyoko aimed a fire extinguisher at the stove as flames licked at whatever dish she’d left behind to go fight the monsters. “Chiyoko-san!” Eiji cried, rushing toward her.</p><p>“Stay back!” she warned, aiming the fire extinguisher again. The next blast put the flames out completely.</p><p>Eiji looked mournfully around at the damage. “This is all my fault,” he said. “We’re putting you in danger, being here.”</p><p>Chiyoko shook her head emphatically. “No, Eiji-kun,” she reassured him. “You’re not the one to blame. Those monsters are.”</p><p>Shingo arrived in his patrol car, along with another detective, a solemn-faced woman with her hair in a tight bun. She introduced herself as Officer Shijima and went to take Chiyoko’s statement.</p><p>“It’s going to take a while to get everything back in order here,” Eiji remarked.</p><p>Hina nodded. “We should start cleaning up.”</p><p>“Don’t touch anything!” Shingo cautioned. “As of now, this is an active crime scene.” He pulled out a camera and began taking photos.</p><p>I scowled. “Those bastards better not have trashed the attic, too.” I stomped towards the stairs, kicking a fallen cup out of my way.</p><p>Shingo came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. “For now, I think we should stick together,” he said. “You two can stay at our apartment…as long as Hina doesn’t mind.”</p><p>“Of course I don’t mind!” Hina said. “Please, you must stay with us.”</p><p>Eiji nodded. “All right,” he agreed. “Thank you.”</p><p>“Whatever,” I grumbled.</p><p>Chiyoko and the detective came out of the kitchen. “Thank you…” Chiyoko said. “For…believing me.”</p><p>The detective’s eyes softened. “I’m no stranger to strange things,” she said. “Izumi-san, are you ready to go file our report?”</p><p>I smirked at Shingo. “Good luck with that.”</p><p>The detective looked between Shingo and me, shocked. “Are you…?”</p><p>“My twin brother,” Shingo said smoothly.</p><p>“Oh. Right,” she said. She bent down to pick up one of the copper Cell Medals. “What is this?” she asked, holding it up.</p><p>“We’re not entirely sure yet,” Shingo said. “But we had a bag of those sent to the lab the other day. They’re looking into it.”</p><p>The detective pulled an evidence bag from her pocket and used a pair of tweezers to fill the bag with a dozen or so of the copper Medals. “For my friend Rinna-san in R&amp;D. She should analyze them, too,” she explained.</p><p>Once she and Shingo left, Eiji, Hina, and I spent the rest of the day helping Chiyoko start to get things back in order. “The most important thing is that nobody was hurt, Eiji-kun,” she said as Eiji started to apologize for the fourth time. “I’ll be fine. We’ll have to close for a few days, but once everything’s fixed up, we can have a grand reopening party!” She turned to me. “Ankh-chan…thank you for helping today. Really. Thank you.”</p><p>I turned away, not ready to face the gratitude in her eyes. “I didn’t do it for you.” There was still a lot of work that needed to be done. I clenched my hands into fists. “They’ll pay for what they did to this place.”</p><p>**</p><p>Shingo and Hina had moved since the last time I’d been around. We took the elevator up to the top floor of a large building. Hina opened the doors to reveal an open, airy apartment. One wall had large windows and a glass door that opened onto a balcony. A gray futon sat across from a large television hung on the wall. One corner of the large space held Hina’s sewing machine and a dressmaker’s dummy, which was covered in a half-finished outfit. The kitchen had modern appliances and a counter with a breakfast bar.</p><p>“Wow!” Eiji said. “This is a nice place! Thank you again for letting us stay here.”</p><p>“Of course,” Shingo said, coming in behind us. He was carrying a large bag with takeout food. “I didn’t think anyone would feel like cooking tonight, so I got dinner for us.” He held up a second, smaller bag. “And some ice candy from the store. Try not to eat it all tonight.”</p><p>I smirked. “No promises.”</p><p>As we were finishing dinner, Eiji let out a loud yawn. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “It’s been a long day.”</p><p>“Of course,” Shingo said. “Eiji, you can stay in my room while you’re here. I’ll share the futon with Ankh.”</p><p>“Tch! I’m not sharing with anyone,” I said. “I’ll sleep out on the balcony.”</p><p>“Are you sure?” Shingo asked, concerned. “It’s supposed to rain tonight.”</p><p>“I’ll be fine,” I said.</p><p>“I can sleep on the futon,” Eiji said. “Really, I don’t mind.” With our sleeping arrangements settled, everyone said good night. I took a pillow out onto the balcony and laid down, feeling the breeze ruffle my hair. As I fell asleep, I thought I heard a distant rumble.</p><p>The rain was already falling when a flash of lightning woke me up. It was followed immediately by a clap of thunder, and then the downpour started. By the time I managed to stand up and open the balcony door, I was completely soaked. My wet socks squished on the carpet as I made my way to the bathroom. A blast from the air conditioner left my teeth chattering. I stripped off my wet clothes and snatched a towel. Hands shaking, I began to dry myself off. I’d never been so cold before.</p><p>The bathroom door slid open just enough for Eiji to stick his hand in. He held out a pair of boxers. “You can have these, if you need them.”</p><p>“Yeah,” I said, grabbing them from his hand. They were covered in red and teal zigzag stripes, but they were clean and dry. “Thanks.” The word was out of my mouth before I realized what I’d said.</p><p>“Oh!” Eiji said, startled. He recovered quickly. “I-it’s no big deal,” he continued. “You know me, always ready with tomorrow’s underwear.”</p><p>“Where do you even <em>find</em> these?” I asked, pulling the boxers on.</p><p>“Here and there,” he said. “Are you decent?”</p><p>“Am I ever?” I shot back. I sat on the edge of the bathtub, shivering.</p><p>Eiji slid the door open the rest of the way. He took the towel I’d used and wrapped it around my shoulders. Then he grabbed another and began to dry off my hair. “You’re an idiot,” he said gently.</p><p>I snorted. “You’d know.” My teeth chattered again.</p><p>“You’re so cold. Do you want me to make you some tea?” Eiji asked, concerned.</p><p>“Quit fussing over me,” I grumbled.</p><p>He sighed. “Guess there’s only one thing to do, then.” He left, returning a moment later with a fuzzy gray throw blanket. Removing the towel, he wrapped the blanket tightly around my shoulders. “Come on,” he said, taking my hand.</p><p>I was too weak to protest as Eiji led me over to the futon. The mattress creaked as I laid down. He covered me with the comforter. “Better?” he asked.</p><p>I nodded. I was finally starting to feel warm again. I turned onto my side, watching the rain slide down the windows. The mattress creaked again as Eiji laid down on the other side, behind me. I felt him scooting closer until we were lying back-to-back, with the fuzzy blanket between us. “Are you warm enough now?” Eiji asked again.</p><p>“I told you to quit fussing over me,” I said.</p><p>Eiji chuckled lightly. “Sleep well, Ankh.”</p><p>Surprisingly, I did.</p><p>I awoke feeling more rested than I ever had before. I was still wrapped in the gray blanket. At some point during the night, Eiji had turned over. His front was now pressed against my back, his arm draped around my waist. This was an entirely new sensation, one I barely had the words to describe. How did I feel? <em>Warm. Protected. Safe.</em> It was…good, I decided. Shockingly good. <em>I wouldn’t mind waking up like this again.</em></p><p>As if reading my thoughts, Eiji’s arm tightened around my waist. I heard him sigh contentedly as he woke up. “I’ve wanted to wake up like this ever since the night I brought you back,” he confessed. His breath tickled my ear.</p><p>I rolled over to face him. “So, now I know the real reason you revived me,” I teased.</p><p>Horror filled Eiji’s face. He jerked his arm away. “No!” he said. “I…I would never…”</p><p>“What’s wrong?” I asked, my face twisting in confusion.</p><p>“I…I don’t want you to feel as though you owe me anything,” he said hurriedly. “That’s why. I don’t want to be with you unless you want it, too. I still would’ve brought you back even if I knew you wouldn’t…you don’t…”</p><p>I put a finger to his lips. “Idiot,” I said lightly. “I would never think I owe you anything.” I had never realized before how soft his lips were. I pulled my hand away.</p><p>“Oh,” Eiji said. I could feel him relax. “Well, that’s good.”</p><p>I understood the reason for his concern. From my time with the Greeed…always calculating, always scheming, never helping anyone without an ulterior motive. But things were different between us. Maybe they always had been.</p><p>“I’ve never been to the movies before,” I told him. “So you better find a good one for us to see.”</p><p>Eiji’s whole face lit up as he smiled. “I will,” he promised.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm always a sucker for some platonic sleeping together...and I like writing Soft!Ankh. </p><p>Chapter 8 sneak peek:<br/>“You cannot transform with those Medals again!” I told Eiji. “It’s too dangerous.”<br/>He looked at me seriously. “It might be the only way we can stop Emperor Chaos.”<br/>“And if you lose control?” I demanded. “What then? Who’s going to stop you?”<br/>“I will,” Yusuke said. For once, I saw worry on his face. “I can do it. I have a form that’s powerful enough.”</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eiji and I raced into battle against Deadly Spider. She was surrounded by a dozen orange Yummys. They were chasing people down and grabbing them, ready to take them back to Emperor Chaos’ cave. “Call Yusuke!” Eiji called to me. “We need his help!”</p><p>“No need,” I told him. I saw him pull up on his motorcycle, along with a police car. Ichijo stepped out of the car as Yusuke transformed and joined the fray.</p><p>“Ichijo-san!” Kuuga called. “Get everyone to safety!” He began fighting the orange Yummys. As Ichijo guided the bystanders away from the fighting, I ducked behind a fence to watch the battle.</p><p>Eiji was having trouble. Deadly Spider kept changing size. Every time Eiji advanced towards her, she shrank down and scurried off in another direction, only to return to normal size behind him. “Oi, Eiji! Don’t let her lead you too far off!” I called to him.</p><p>She began changing size again, this time growing nearly ten feet tall. “Ankh!” Eiji cried.</p><p>I pulled out the album of Cores and tossed him the Gorilla Medal. Eiji switched, but he only got one punch in before Deadly Spider shrank again, smaller than he could follow. “Tch!” I grumbled. We needed some way to stop her from changing size. I scrambled up a nearby fire escape to get a birds-eye view.</p><p>I turned my attention back to Kuuga. He had whittled down the orange Yummys from twelve down to one…or so I thought. There were three people who, instead of running away, were trying to come at Kuuga from behind. There was something about their movements that was…off. They had to be Yummys who had just evolved into human copies.</p><p>“Godai!” Ichijo shouted. “Behind you!”</p><p>Kuuga spun around and attacked the copies. As he prepared to finish the last one off, Deadly Spider appeared in front of him, rapidly growing larger. She grew to human size. I saw the red hourglass symbol on her back was glowing. She continued growing until she was ten, fifteen, twenty feet tall. As she stopped growing, the hourglass dimmed. “I will crush you!” she cried gleefully, taking a step that shook the ground and advancing on the Riders.</p><p>“The red symbol on her back is her weak point!” I called down to them.</p><p>Kuuga gave me a thumbs-up. “Got it!” he called back to me. “Ichijo-san!” He ran over to Ichijo, who passed Kuuga his firearm. Kuuga’s armor turned green, and the gun transformed into a bow and arrow. Kuuga leapt into the air, even higher than I was, and fired down at Deadly Spider. She cried out in anguish as the weapon found its mark. Kuuga landed and changed his armor to red once more. “That should take care of her!” He tensed, anticipating the explosion.</p><p>Deadly Spider laughed. “It will take more than that to stop me!” she boasted.</p><p>“Oh, crap,” Kuuga said. “Why didn’t it work?!”</p><p>As I watched, the red symbol flickered and sputtered, crackling with red lightning that quickly disappeared. “Good news and bad news!” I called down to them. “She can’t change size anymore…but you’ll have to fight her at this size.”</p><p>Eiji nodded, determined, and shifted his stance. “Ankh! We might need BaKuGami again!”</p><p>“No way in hell!” I called. “Use this instead!” I tossed two more Medals his way.</p><p>
  <em>Zai! Gorilla! Zou! ZaGoZou, ZaGOZOU!!</em>
</p><p>Eiji attacked from the left, and Kuuga from the right. Deadly Spider swept Kuuga aside with one of her front legs. She tried to knock Eiji down, but he held firm. She grabbed him with both front legs together. Kuuga changed to his blue armor and grabbed a piece of debris from the battle. He swept his staff at her back legs, knocking her sideways. She dropped Eiji and turned towards Kuuga, leaving an opening for Eiji to attack. It was clear that she couldn’t divide her attention between them.</p><p>“Let’s attack together on three!” Eiji called to Kuuga. He nodded. “One…two…three!”</p><p>The Riders’ combined attack was enough to finish Deadly Spider off. I ducked from the shockwave of power as she exploded.</p><p>I climbed down to the ground as Eiji and Yusuke ended their transformations. “Did you get all of the copies?” I asked.</p><p>“I think so,” Yusuke said.</p><p>“Good work,” Ichijo said to him. “How are you feeling?”</p><p>Yusuke gave him a thumbs-up.</p><p>“I’m fine, too,” Eiji said, looking pointedly at me.</p><p>I looked him up and down. “You’re still standing,” I said. “I don’t need to ask how you are.” I considered any battle we could walk away from a success.</p><p>“Do you two want to join us for lunch?” Yusuke asked.</p><p>Ichijo shook his head. “Just you,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to the station.”</p><p>“We’d love to join you,” Eiji said. “Wouldn’t we, Ankh?”</p><p>I sighed. “Whatever.”</p><p>We got lunch from a food cart and sat in a nearby park to eat. “So, I heard you tried the orange Medals,” Yusuke began cautiously. “What happened?”</p><p>“Trouble,” I snapped. “You cannot transform with those Medals again!” I told Eiji. “It’s too dangerous.”</p><p>He looked at me seriously. “It might be the only way we can stop Emperor Chaos.”</p><p>“And if you lose control?” I demanded. “What then? Who’s going to stop <em>you</em>?”</p><p>“I will,” Yusuke said. For once, I saw worry on his face. “I can do it. I have a form that’s powerful enough.”</p><p>I glared at him. “Then why haven’t we heard about this before now? Maybe <em>you</em> should be the one to fight the Emperor.”</p><p>Yusuke looked away. “I’d…rather not,” he said. “The longer I fight, the harder it is to control the power of the black armor. And if <em>I</em> go out of control…I don’t know if anyone is powerful enough to stop <em>me</em>.” The words were said without any hint of pride or boasting. Because of that, I suspected he was right.</p><p>“So when you say you can stop OOO…” The horrible realization filled the pit of my stomach with dread. “You’d have to destroy him.”</p><p>Yusuke nodded grimly.</p><p>“All right, then,” Eiji said. “We’ll just have to make sure it doesn’t come to that.” He and Yusuke shared a look, and Eiji nodded in understanding.</p><p>“How can either of you even consider this?” I demanded.</p><p>“It’ll be all right,” Yusuke said, his good mood returned. “Eiji definitely can control the power of these new Medals. Everything will work out.”</p><p>I scowled. “You can’t expect things to work like that just because you say they will.”</p><p>“It’s how I was able to control the power last time,” Yusuke said. “I know it can work again. Eiji’s like me.”</p><p>“Tch!” I grumbled. “One of you is bad enough.”</p><p>Both of them grinned at me.</p><p>**</p><p>We went back to Shingo and Hina’s apartment that evening. “You’re in luck, Ankh,” Eiji said. “The forecast calls for clear skies tonight.”</p><p>I scowled at him. “You’re kicking me out already?”</p><p>“I thought you didn’t want to share with anyone,” he reminded me, eyes sparkling with amusement.</p><p>I huffed a laugh. “You’re not just anyone, though.” I shot a glance his way. Eiji turned away, beet red and embarrassed, but I could tell he was pleased.</p><p>Hina looked at Eiji, then at me. “Ankh, are you and Eiji-kun…?” Her face lit up with understanding. She grinned and threw her arms around us both. “How cute!”</p><p>“‘<em>Cute</em>’?” I repeated. I’d never been so offended in any of my lifetimes.</p><p>Shingo laughed. “I’m happy for you both,” he said.</p><p>“Ah, it’s no big deal,” Eiji said.</p><p>“Maybe for <em>you</em> it’s not,” I muttered.</p><p>Eiji grinned at me. “I see you’re still going to disagree with everything I say.”</p><p>“Of course,” I smirked. “You’re still my idiot, after all.” Horrified, I realized what I’d said. “<em>An</em> idiot!” I corrected hastily. “You’re still <em>an</em> idiot.”</p><p>Eiji took my hand and laced his fingers through mine. “And you’re still my Ankh.”</p><p>Once, I would have pulled my hand away. Once, I would have scowled and denied belonging to anyone. Once, even the thought of having that kind of a connection would have been enough to send me running. I looked at Eiji, at Hina and Shingo, my friends, my family. They’d welcomed me and looked out for me despite my objections. Despite everything I’d done to hurt them.</p><p>I squeezed Eiji’s hand back. “I still don’t know why you all put up with me,” I grumbled.</p><p>“Does it matter?” Shingo asked gently. “We’re comrades, after all. Nothing can change that.” Eiji nodded in agreement.</p><p>“We’ve spent all this time together,” Hina added. “And…you put up with us, too.”</p><p>We sat around talking until the moon was high in the sky. At last, Eiji said, “We should try and get some sleep. Ankh and I are going after Emperor Chaos tomorrow.”</p><p>Hina folded Eiji into a bone-crunching hug. “Be careful,” she implored. Then she turned to me. I let her wrap her arms around me, too. “You take care, Ankh.”</p><p>I smirked. “Don’t I always?”</p><p>“No,” Eiji shot back.</p><p>“Definitely not,” Shingo added.</p><p>I scowled at them all.</p><p>**</p><p>
  <em>Eiji and OOO were fighting.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Eiji, wearing his everyday clothes and armed with nothing more than the pole with his underwear, faced off against the orange form. Undeterred, Eiji shifted to a fighting stance. OOO attacked. Eiji blocked. He was being driven backwards. The fight continued until Eiji’s back was to the wall. He thrust the pole of underwear forward. OOO, laughing, sliced it in half with his scythe.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Eiji!” I cried. “Look out!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He feinted to the left, and then moved right, dodging OOO’s attack. He ducked and dodged, evading the attacks, but he had no way to defend himself. It was only a matter of time before…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>OOO slashed his scythe in a powerful arc across Eiji’s chest.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Instead of blood, silver Cell Medals poured from the wound. “No!” I shouted. I ran over to Eiji, catching him as he sank to his knees. The Cell Medals fell to the ground in an endless stream. “Eiji!” I cried. “Hang in there, Eiji!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He smiled sadly up at me. “Ankh…thank you.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No!” I shouted again. Eiji was gone. In his place was a Core Medal. It flashed different colors as I watched, never the same color twice. “Eiji! Come back!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Medal shattered in my palm. There was nothing left of him.</em>
</p><p>I woke up in a cold sweat. My heart was pounding, my breath coming in gasps as I tried to gulp down fresh air. <em>A nightmare,</em> I told myself. <em>That’s all it was.</em></p><p>Eiji lay behind me, his back to mine, his breathing slow and even. I turned over and pressed myself against his back. I curled my arm around his waist, needing reassurance that he was really there. I felt the rise and fall of his chest as he slept. <em>He’s all right. It was just a dream.</em></p><p>I held Eiji until my racing heart slowed to normal. At some point, I must have drifted off to sleep once more. The next thing I knew, sunlight was streaming through the windows. Eiji covered my hand with his own, his thumb stroking the back of my hand. “Good morning,” he said softly.</p><p>“Hey, Eiji,” I told him. “You better  not die.”</p><p>He rolled over to face me, a sleepy grin stretched across his face. “I don’t plan to.”</p><p>I stared into his eyes. “I mean it.” I ran a finger down the side of his face. <em>He’s really here. He’s all right.</em></p><p>Eiji cupped my chin in his hand. “Ankh…” he whispered. He pressed his mouth to mine. Eiji’s lips were soft and warm. I deepened the kiss hungrily, hoping to convey everything I couldn’t with my words. When our lips parted, there was newfound determination in Eiji’s eyes. “I swear I’ll come back to you,” he vowed.</p><p>I managed a smirk. “Then get out there and save the world, you reckless idiot.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter 9 (final chapter!) sneak peek:<br/>“They’re not your Medals,” I told OOO, echoing Eiji’s words to my impostor all those years ago. “They belong to him!”</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“They’ll probably have someone guarding the cave,” I cautioned Eiji as we took the elevator to the ground floor. “We’ll have to find a way to sneak past. Good thing it’s just you and me.”</p><p>Eiji winced. “Er, about that…”</p><p>The elevator doors opened to reveal Yusuke standing in the lobby, waiting for us with a grin stretched across his face. “Did <em>you</em> tell him to come with us?” I asked Eiji with a glare.</p><p>“We don’t know how strong Emperor Chaos’ defenses are,” Eiji pointed out. “And if I have to use BaKuGami again…we need all the help we can get.”</p><p>“Whatever,” I grumbled.</p><p>Yusuke laughed and clapped me on the back. “That’s the spirit, Ankh!” he said. He added to Eiji in a stage whisper, “I think he’s starting to like me.”</p><p>Shingo met us at the edge of the forest. “I’m here as part of the missing persons investigation,” he explained. “I told them I had a lead on where everyone was being held. Captain Ichijo sent me.”</p><p>I gritted my teeth. “Just don’t get in our way,” I told him.</p><p>As we cut a path through the forest, Yusuke muttered, “I think we’re being followed.”</p><p>I spun around to see Hina making her way through the undergrowth. “No!” I said. “Absolutely not! You are <em>not</em> coming with us.”</p><p>She squared her shoulders and looked me in the eye. “I want to help, too,” she said. “Shouko and the others are still being held there. And you know I can handle myself.”</p><p>“Hina…” Shingo began, face pained.</p><p>She met his eyes, too. “I want to do what I can, Onii-chan.”</p><p>After a long moment, Shingo nodded. “All right. Be careful.”</p><p>“Hey! Anyone else want to join us?” I shouted, turning around in a circle. “Date? Gotou? No?” I turned to Yusuke. “Are <em>your</em> friends going to show up?”</p><p>“I thought we were supposed to be sneaking in,” Eiji reminded me quietly.</p><p>“Seeing as there’s now <em>five</em> of us,” I snapped, “it’s time for a new plan.”</p><p>The cave was still half a mile away. We had just finished planning our new strategy when I saw the first sentries outside Emperor Chaos’ lair. “Oi! Over here!” I called to the orange Yummys.</p><p>They ran at me. Eiji and Yusuke, already transformed, dropped down from the trees on top of them. A group of the human copies came running out of the cave towards us. As Eiji and Kuuga started fighting them off, Shingo and Hina slipped into the cave unnoticed. I’d told them my best guess as to where the real humans were being kept, and tasked them with getting everyone to safety.</p><p>Eiji slashed at one of the copies with his sword while Kuuga kicked another in the chest. Slowly, they fought their way past the guards and into the cave. I followed close behind. It wasn’t long before Emperor Chaos appeared. “Kamen Riders!” he sneered. “So you’ve come at last.”</p><p>Eiji and Kuuga shifted their stances. Emperor Chaos ran at them, his scepter raised. Eiji blocked and swung with his sword. Emperor Chaos dodged.</p><p>I saw Shingo from the corner of my eye. He was leading a large group of people single-file through the cave. There were dozens of men and women, about equal numbers of each…and two children. The girls clung to each other’s hands. One of the men near the front let out a gasp. Shingo shook his head and put a finger to his lips.</p><p>Hina came over to me. “We’ve got everyone out,” she whispered. “But…there’s another problem. There are still a lot of those egg things. If we don’t destroy them…”</p><p>“I’ll think of something,” I said. “Get to safety.”</p><p>With a nod, she went to help Shingo lead everyone out. I turned my attention back to the fight. Even working together, the Riders were struggling.</p><p>Eiji looked over at me. “Ankh!” he called.</p><p>“Not yet!” I shouted back. I knew what he was asking for. “Use this instead!” I sent the Shauta Medals his way.</p><p>Kuuga covered Eiji while he changed out the Medals. The new Combo seemed to be working as the tide of battle shifted. The Riders were defending less and attacking more. Emperor Chaos was backed into a corner. He fired at Kuuga with his scepter. Kuuga dodged it easily.</p><p>“This is it, Emperor Chaos,” Eiji said. “Your empire is gone. We’ve defeated your generals and rescued the people you were holding hostage. If you surrender now…”</p><p>Emperor Chaos laughed. “Is this all you’ve got?” he asked. “Because I’ve got more.” I heard the familiar tinkling of Medals that came before…</p><p>
  <em>Oh shit.</em>
</p><p>Emperor Chaos had a Greeed form.</p><p>He was a nightmare given flesh. His eyes were deep red, looking out from the head of some terrible lizard. His body was covered in feathers and scales and spikes, a hundred different creatures smashed together. His legs ended in clawed feet. Huge, leathery wings stretched out behind him. He advanced on the Riders.</p><p>“Ankh!” Eiji called desperately.</p><p>We were out of options. I pulled the orange Medals from the album. “Be <em>careful</em>,” I warned as I tossed them his way.</p><p>Eiji met my eyes and nodded. He clicked the Medals into his belt.</p><p>
  <em>Bakemon! Akuma! Shinigami! BaKuGaaamiiii!</em>
</p><p>Eiji’s eyes flickered once or twice between green and orange before settling to green. I met Eiji’s eyes, and he nodded at me.</p><p>Emperor Chaos took a single step back in surprise. Then the fighting began in earnest. I watched intently as Eiji and the emperor traded blow after blow.</p><p>“Did Shingo and Hina get everyone out safely?” Kuuga asked me quietly. I hadn’t even noticed him come over to me.</p><p>“Yeah,” I said, not taking my eyes off the fight, “but there’s still a chamber filled with the Yummy eggs.”</p><p>“On it,” Kuuga said.</p><p>I wanted to call out to Eiji to make sure he was all right, but I knew he couldn’t afford any distractions. He still seemed like himself.</p><p>Emperor Chaos was tiring. He fired at Eiji with his scepter, but the light sputtered and died. Eiji raised his scythe. “How could this happen?” the emperor cried. “I had the perfect plan!”</p><p>“Your desire has gone out of control,” Eiji told him. He swung the scythe around in a wide, sweeping arc. The emperor cried out in anguish as I heard the sound of cracking Core Medals. Emperor Chaos shifted back to his human form and collapsed to the ground, eyes closed.</p><p>Kuuga came running back towards us. “I’ve destroyed all of the eggs,” he reported. “What happened with Emperor Chaos? Is he…?”</p><p>“Who knows?” I said. “Oi, Eiji, hurry and give those Medals back.” Eiji was kneeling next to the emperor, feeling for a pulse.</p><p>“It’s fine!” he called back. “I’ve got it under control. I…” He froze. His arms flew out to the sides. His head tilted back. When he met my gaze again, his eyes were glowing orange. He looked down at Emperor Chaos. I heard the crack a moment later. OOO snapped his neck as though he was breaking a twig.</p><p>Kuuga cried out in shock. OOO dropped the emperor’s body to the floor and rose to his feet.</p><p>“Foolish humans! You thought you could control me so easily?” OOO asked mockingly. “I was merely biding my time while you defeated the Emperor. He was the biggest obstacle in my way.”</p><p>“Eiji! Fight him!” I cried, pushing down the rising panic.</p><p>OOO looked at me and cocked his head. “You can drop the act now, Ankh,” he said. “Although you played your part beautifully. Making him think you didn’t want him to unleash me.”</p><p>“Because I didn’t!” I shouted. “You stabbed me in the back, you bastard!”</p><p>OOO crossed his arms. “I don’t see why you should hold that against me,” he said. “Seeing as how you would have done the same if I’d given you the chance. Come now, Ankh. You always knew the way the winds of power were blowing. Join me once more, and I will give you everything you desire.”</p><p>I glared at him. “I’ve changed,” I said. “I don’t want anything from you anymore.”</p><p>“Is that so?” he asked, voice low. “Very well. So be it.” He swung his scythe, and I ducked from the wave of power that flew from it. “Once I am rid of you two—” he indicated Kuuga and me—“nothing will be able to stop me. This man, this Hino Eiji, will be my vessel as I tear this world apart. Piece. By. Piece.”</p><p>Kuuga’s armor turned black.</p><p><em>No!</em> I raced in front of him, coming between him and Eiji. “Let me,” I pleaded. “It’s not too late. I can reach him.”</p><p>Kuuga nodded gratefully and took a step back.</p><p>“Why are you defending him?” OOO demanded. “He has no money. He has no power of his own. He should be <em>nothing</em> to you.”</p><p>“He fought for me,” I said. “When no one else would.” I had never had anyone look out for me before.</p><p>OOO laughed again. “You mean to tell me that <em>you, </em>Ankh, feel <em>loyalty</em> to him? Oh, that’s a good one. Now be good and hand my Medals over. If you do, I may even let him live…in service to me, of course.”</p><p>I smiled at him grimly. “They’re not your Medals,” I told OOO, echoing Eiji’s words to my impostor all those years ago. “They belong to him!” I stared into OOO’s cruel eyes. For a fraction of an instant, they flashed green. “Eiji, I know you’re in there!” I shouted. “You promised! You stubborn, reckless idiot! You promised you’d come back.”</p><p>OOO raised his arms and let out another laugh. Then he sent out a wave of power with his bat wings. I went flying and landed on the ground with a thud.</p><p>Kuuga shifted his stance, preparing to charge forward.</p><p>“Don’t!” I cried. Slowly, I rose to my feet. “Eiji! You’ve never broken a promise! Don’t you dare start now!” I staggered towards OOO again. “I know you, Eiji. You would never give up so easily. So knock it off already and <em>get back here!!</em>” I stood firm as OOO advanced on me, staring him down without fear. Eiji could no more destroy me than I could destroy him.</p><p>When OOO opened his wings again, I rushed forward. I threw my arms around his waist. He thrashed, trying to break free. “I will never let you have him,” I snarled. “Eiji’s <em>mine.</em>”</p><p>OOO froze in my arms, then relaxed. His eyes lost their orange glow and faded to green. “Ankh…” Eiji breathed.</p><p>I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding. “Took you long enough,” I said. “Welcome back.”</p><p>He reached over to unlock the belt. It wouldn’t budge. “Help!” he cried. “It’s…stuck…”</p><p>I covered his hand with mine. Together, inch by inch, we forced the belt open. His transformation ended. I snatched the Core Medals as Eiji collapsed in my arms.</p><p>I looked back at Kuuga. “You should probably do something about these,” I called, holding up the orange Medals. He nodded, and his armor shifted from black to silver and purple. He grabbed a long piece of debris from the fight. As I watched, the plank of wood turned into a sword. I tossed the Medals his way. He slashed at them with the sword. The Medals shattered.</p><p>Hesitantly, I held my thumb up towards him. Kuuga ended his transformation. Yusuke grinned widely and returned the gesture. “We did it!” he cried. </p><p>I looked down at Eiji and brushed a strand of hair off of his face. “Good work,” I told him.</p><p>He grinned up at me. “Careful, Ankh,” he said. “People will think you’re going soft.” He reached over and took my hand. I squeezed his fingers gratefully.</p><p>Date greeted us outside of the cave. “Yo, Hino! Yo, Anko! I heard you saved the day again.”</p><p>“Date-san? What are you doing here?” Eiji asked.</p><p>“The detective called me,” he explained. “He said there were a lot of people who could use a doctor to make sure they were all right.”</p><p>“Are they?” Eiji asked anxiously.</p><p>Date nodded. “Some minor injuries and dehydration, but nothing that some time to rest and recover won’t cure,” he informed us.</p><p>One of the children, a girl who looked to be about five years old, ran over to us. “The nice lady says you’re the one who fought the monster,” she told Eiji. He nodded, and she threw her arms around his legs. “Thank you!”</p><p>“I’m glad you’re all right,” Eiji said quietly. “Thank goodness you’re all right.” He had a faraway look in his eyes. I could tell he was thinking of another little girl, one whose story hadn’t ended so happily. The girl let go of his legs, and Eiji bent down to her eye level. “What’s your name?” he asked.</p><p>“I’m Sato Keiko,” she said. “Can I go back home now? I miss my mommy and daddy.”</p><p>The other girl, who looked to be about ten years old, came running over. “Keiko-chan?” she called. “Oh, there you are!”</p><p>Keiko pointed at Eiji. “He’s the one who saved us!” she said.</p><p>The older girl bowed forward in thanks. “I’m Takahashi Naoko,” she said. “Thank you. Is it truly over?”</p><p>“Yes,” Eiji assured her. “Emperor Chaos can’t hurt anyone anymore.”</p><p>**</p><p>Three days later, we all sat around a large table at Cous Coussier. Chiyoko carried a tray laden with food over to us. “It feels so good to be open again!” she said. “Has everything been resolved?”</p><p>“More or less,” Shingo reported. “There are still a few of the human copies running around, but without Emperor Chaos controlling them, they’re no longer a threat. They’re calling themselves the Others.”</p><p>Yusuke grinned. “I hear a couple of them even became friends with the people they copied.”</p><p>“I’m worried about the two girls, though,” Ichijo admitted.</p><p>Eiji’s face filled with concern. “What happened with them?”</p><p>Shingo sighed. “The girls themselves are fine,” he assured Eiji. “But their copies…nobody quite knows what to do with them. They have a doctor at Seito University Hospital looking after them for now.”</p><p>Eiji turned to me. “We should go visit them tomorrow,” he suggested.</p><p>I scowled. “I thought we were going to the movies tomorrow.”</p><p>“After the movie, then,” he said. I shrugged in response.</p><p>“What’s going to happen to the rest of the Others?” Hina asked.</p><p>“We’re…still working on that,” Ichijo admitted. “Officer Shijima and her husband Detective Tomari are advocating for them, trying to find housing and jobs.”</p><p>“Kiriko was very insistent that they should be allowed the chance to live normal lives,” Shingo added.</p><p>I smirked. “Good luck explaining where those extra people came from.”</p><p>He shrugged. “We’ll figure something out…but that reminds me, Ankh, <em>you’re</em> going to need documentation, too. And a family name.”</p><p>“Hino!” Eiji said immediately.</p><p>“Izumi!” Hina said at the same time. She and Eiji looked at each other. “Ankh already looks like Onii-chan,” she pointed out. “And he’s been saying that they’re brothers. We might as well make it official.”</p><p>“Izumi…Ankh,” I said slowly. I liked the sound of that. “Whatever. May as well.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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